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.

Daddy lives in a Hess truck

I got the cutest video of Chase this morning. I should preface it with the newest in Chaseness.

Chase started scooting the day before Dave left. Of course Dave had his back turned & missed it, because that's when everything happens, when you turn your back. He started crawling a little over a month ago. Shelbye & I reveled in the cuteness until she realized this meant he was on the move & now able to get into all her stuff. We've since installed plug covers & door knob covers. Cabinet locks are coming next, as soon as Dave gets home to install them. Those take power tools. He also got his bottom two teeth on St. Patty's day.

While we were in Atlanta last week Chase started pulling up on the furniture & taking careful steps while holding on. He's becoming quite the little talker. He's ALWAYS into something. He looks more like Dave every day.

So the video.. I heard Chase talking to something when he woke up this morning. I had no idea what it could be because I'd just changed his sheets & taken all the toys out of his bed last night. I snuck into his room because I knew he'd stop if he saw me. You can't see what he's talking to but it's Dave's Hess trucks on his dresser. Yes, he's definitely standing up in his bed saying Daddy. The video is side ways & I'm not sure how to fix it, so I'm sorry for the cramp you're about to get. :)

Craziness..

We're nearing the home stretch of this deployment. Things have been SO hectic since Dave left. We've been incredibly busy, which has really helped the patrol pass quickly. Well, as quickly as can be expected, anyway. In the two months that Dave's been gone we've done so many things. I finally have a few minutes to sit down & fill everyone in. I've painted the living room, Shelbye & I have started a garden, & we've gone to Atlanta for Easter & spring break.

Our living room is now a terra cotta reddish color. I think it's pretty neat. Dave & I picked out the color before he left, but we'll see what he thinks when he gets back. :) It's only paint, after all.

Our garden is coming up quite nicely thanks to all the rain we've had the last couple weeks. We're looking forward to fresh corn, lima & green beans, tomatoes, squash, & watermelons.

We visited my family in Atlanta last week. It was definitely nice to get away for a little while. The kids were great on the drive up. Shelbye was a wonderful co-pilot & Chase slept the entire way. We got there late Saturday night. Shelbye went to the lemonade days fair & the Atlanta Zoo with her Aunt Kristy. I enjoyed a nice dinner out with a friend without the kids, which was awesome, but I wasn't sure quite what to do without having to cut up someone else's food or without seeing chicken nuggets on the menu. Wednesday my friend Allie & I took the kids to the Georgia Aquarium. That was Shelbye's second visit to the aquarium, but my first. We had a great time watching all the animals. Shelbye was especially in awe of this HUGE fish with eyes just as big. Shelbye named him "Big Eyes" & picked him as her favorite. The beluga whales were mine. It was definitely a little weird to stand in a tunnel with a ton of water over my head full of sharks. We made sure to take a turn at petting the sting rays & bonnet sharks before we left. Saturday we went to the Georgia Renaissance Fair with Aunt Kris & Uncle Adam (my sister & brother -in-law). It was a lot of fun. Lots of things to see & do. Shelbye got a fairy crown & I bought a pair of super fun stripey socks. Good times were had by all.

We're definitely glad to be home, though. The cats were awfully glad to see us back too.

Thankfully there's not much left of this patrol, & we'll be so happy to have Dave home. We're all really excited for summer & our upcoming trip to Maryland. We won't be able to pin down the details until after Dave returns & we figure out when his stand down will be, but he's mentioned in the last few emails that we should be able to get away the last part of June.

For those of you who are interested in the latest Navy news, Dave made E5 in November. He was frocked then, but actually became a second class petty officer March 15. The time has come for Dave to decide whether he wants to turn this into a career or to get out after this first enlistment. There are several deciding factors, such as the bonus involved, whether he'll go to C school for further training, & whether he'll end up on another boomer or on a fast attack. C school would be in either Kings Bay or Groton, CT. Another boomer would mean staying here or transferring to a boat out of Bremerton, WA. School in CT would mean a fast attack, which would put him on a boat that is stationed out of several possible bases, including CT, VA, CA, or HI. If the school is shorter than 6 months he would have to leave us behind. If it's longer, there's a possibility we could go with him. Thanks to Obama, we're having some issues with the reenlistment process & Dave has decided to hold off until the end of this tour before making any decisions. As of right now, we'll be staying put here at Kings Bay indefinitely.

Pictures of all of our above mentioned adventures soon to follow. :)

4/23 - Edited to add:
I got another email from Dave two nights ago saying he isn't sure if he's going to reenlist right now or not. The window will close on the 30th, so he'll have had to made his decision by then & I'll let everyone know something as soon as I do. It looks as though things might be in the air a little longer.

Say Cheese!

We our first family photos taken last weekend. With the exception of it being really windy, it was a beautiful day & I think we got some great shots. A good friend of mine, Heidi Holloway, was our photographer & she does some really amazing work. I only hope my photog skills will get to be close to hers with more practice. She sent me a few of the proofs from the shoot, so I'll post them here. These are only 20ish out of over 200, so there will be more to come as I get them.

Busy Busy Busy

I started this blog thinking it would be easier to keep up with than trying to keep everyone informed by email or phone. Um.. I thought wrong. While the phone & email are still pretty much out of the question (can't seem to make a phone call these days without Chase deciding he wants in on the conversation & screaming bloody murder, or trying to type out an email without him banging the keyboard), finding the time to post updates has been almost impossible. I'll try though.

So the latest..

Chase - Chopper now has two teeth. Yep, not one, but two! They came in the same day. He's now working on a third, & an incisor at that. Fun times. He's eating food. He chows down on the stage 2 or 3 Gerber baby foods, but he'll eat his share of table food too. He had his first taste of blue crab on New Year's Eve. He loves lima beans, but he'll eat pretty much anything I make for dinner. Wish Shelbye was that easy to please. lol He's going on 16lbs now. My little chunky butt.. He can sit up on his own, when he wants to. He's sleeping through the night, with the exception of when he's teething & doesn't sleep at all. He's not into the crawling yet (thank God!) but his daddy's definitely trying to coach him. He busts out the occasional "mamamama" when he's fussy, "hey" when his daddy comes home, & various screams to annoy his Sissy. I know he probably has no idea what he's saying, but I maintain that my children are geniuses.

Shelbye - A/B Honor Roll again. Yay!! She's wanting to play soccer in the spring, so I guess I need to get on that soon. She's finally made tons of friends in the neighborhood. I think she's giving me a preview of what her teenage years are going to be like. She's entered the "it's not cool to be seen with Mom & Dad" phase. Lordy. She's way more interested in hanging out with her friends than hanging out with us, but I'll cling to her childhood even if she won't. As long as she's wearing Hannah Montana jammies, she's still my little girl & no one can tell me any different.

Dave & I - Well, it's pretty well known that we're gearing up for round 4. This one's going to be the longest yet, & I'm dreading it. It seems like he just got home. Refit is.. well.. refit. He works long hours, most of the time until 6ish at the earliest (sometimes until 10ish), after heading to work before 6am. We see him mostly in passing, as he comes home to eat, shower & head to bed so he can do it all again the next day. He's on a 1 in 3 duty rotation, meaning he's standing 24 hour duty in the boat every third day. So yeah, refit is pretty much horrible, but what can you do? Such is life as a Navy wife, or so I've heard. As for me, I'm pretty much just hanging out, doing the day to day stuff to get us through. I've applied for school & gotten financial aid, but I won't be able to start until the fall semester. That's fine by me, though. Gives me more time to stay home & enjoy my little ones while they're still little.

Say What??

Days Go By

It seems like the last several weeks have gone by in a big blur. We've been pretty busy around here, each of us doing our own things. Hopefully things will begin to slow down pretty soon, when Shelbye's winter vacation & Dave's stand down starts Friday. Let's see if I can fit all the events of the last few weeks into one blog!

Thanksgiving was pretty great. Dad was in charge of the turkey this year, so he started cooking early in the morning & brought it over at about lunch time. I was running horribly late (imagine that, right? LOL) & hadn't even started the rest of dinner. So he & Dave got the first taste of the turkey. (I was totally fine with them being the guinea pigs, by the way :D) Dad was on his way up to north Georgia for a hunting trip with the cousins, so he was out the door before we knew it. Then we got down to business. Dinner consisted of Dad's turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (thanks to Ms. Nancy & Dave lol), & the most awesome green bean casserole ever (thanks to Paula Dean)! Even though Dad totally missed out, Mike didn't. LOL