Changes.

I am officially employed! Max and I survived my first day of work yesterday, but oh boy did my heart melt when I walked in and he ran to me yelling "Momma" and then patted my back when I picked him up. I think that it will be a great fit for our family to have me subbing, but it makes me sad to be away from my little guy! When I was sitting in the classroom, I started daydreaming about having a class of my own and I am excited for the future.

Other changes in our life are...

• Increase of babbling and words. For the past two days Max's new favorite word is "Yeah." This is normally said at the top of his lungs. His favorite thing to do is stand below the grape bowl and stand there pointing and screaming YEAH until someone gives him a grape. I am interested to see what his next favorite word will be.
• Fall. It is hard to believe that less three weeks ago we were in the 80s. I am loving that the leaves are changing and the weather is changing. Plus I am wearing my Halloween socks so that must mean Fall is here.
• Wheels on the Bus. Max has started mimicking so much more than he used to. He does the motions for the Wheels on the Bus going round and round as well as the wiper on the bus going swish swish swish. My kid is just like his dad so social. We go to Books & Babies at the library every week and he has to go up to every kid and "talk" to them, which is so precious to watch.

I think 13 months is my favorite age so far!
Here is to the changes in life and embracing them with open arms and a smile on your face!

Life happens!

I was having a bitter moment/pity party for myself earlier because I was thinking of everything GB was missing and how much I was missing him. And then I realized that wasn't getting me anywhere. Life is passing by whether I am on board or not so why not enjoy. In the words of a sweet friend, "Life is too short to be anything, but happy."

So this is why I am happy. I have a husband who I am so proud of and who I can't imagine life without. I am mommy to the sweetest little boy around! I swear he gets cuter by the day and is learning so much. It is amazing to watch.

Ok.. enough of the sap...

•  I am happy because today is National Coffee Day and coffee is my best friend. I found a new coffee stand that I adore.  
• There is sunshine in my life and laughter in parks.
•  My favorite TV shows are back on air which makes my days go by quicker.
• I am one size away from my prepregnancy pants and less than ten pounds, which means I have lost over 50 pounds. Go me!
•  My son is currently taking a 2+ hr nap. That definitely makes me happy.
• Fall means soup and I do love a good bowl of soup.
• Fall means winter comes soon and winter means Christmas and Christmas means watching White Christmas over and over again. Heaven.
• I bought Max's Halloween costume and I LOVE it! He is going to be adorable!
• Hot tub. Enough said.
• I have Hawaii to dream about.
• My friends are the best in the world and I thank God that I have them in my life. Near and far, they rock.

Life is too short to be anything, but happy so happiness here were come!

Fall means glow in the dark skeleton jammies!

Swinging!



Such a cutie!

He is getting so big!

Family takes on a new meaning.

When I married my husband, I new my family was changing. No longer did family mean mom and dad, but it meant husband soon after it meant Max. However, what I did not realize is that when I married GB I also married into a completely different family. An Army family. I know that sounds so cliche, but it is true. I have been away from GB for months now, but I have also been away from my Army family and that has been hard.

I never expected to meet such amazing people or to form such bonds with them, but now they have impacted my life so much I can't imagine who I would be without them. This past month Max and I have been visiting with some of my Army family and was fabulous to not only have something to look forward to, but to reunited with such amazing people. The only downfall is that it made me miss the rest of my "Alaska Family" that I didn't get to see more and GB of course!

Max and I traveled to Reno and San Francisco to visit with Miss L! I could not tell you how happy I was to see her smiling face at the airport.

Checking out Alcatraz!

We had issues getting with all three of us looking so this is as close as we came. SF is in the background!

I told Lauren the only thing I had to do in SF is eat sour dough!

Checking out the beach!

Max loved the zoo!! <3

Such a silly one!

L and I enjoyed a night on the town in Reno!

Then after a week home and a birthday celebration for a certain adorable one year old, we packed up again and headed to Kansas City. Max made it to his 7th and 8th state. That kid is a great little traveler! Being with J and her little miss who was born 5 hours before Max was fabulous and I can't wait to move in with them while we figure out housing in Ak! The little ones played and argued and were adorable! J and I talked and just picked up where we left off. I can't even explain how comforting and happy it was to be with them!

And unfortunately the photo uploader quit working for me so no picture from the Kansas City part of our adventure. Someday soon!!

Sometime's riding solo isn't so fun.

Yesterday was just one of those days. Traveling by yourself with a toddler and all of their stuff is not something I recommend. The fact that I am totally my mother reincarnated (meaning I cannot pack lightly) may make it slightly worse. But there I was strolling through the airport with Max in the stroller, my diaper bag in the bin below, my backpack full of all the extra just in case essentials clipped to the stroller, a duffel bag with my pack and play over my back, the big convertible carseat over my arm that is pushing the stroller, and pulling the roller suitcase full of clothes. Then the stroller wheels hit a piece of trash and got going out of control and I thought I was going to be in train wreck city. Luckily I stabled myself and meandered to the counter. I was more than a little frustrated and then they guy at the ticket counter had the gumption to ask why I didn't have someone to help me. Ugh. I made a snarky comment of why my husband couldn't help me and put him in his place, but it really irritated me. There was no need for such negativity.

Max had a super runny nose and was a little cranky, but in spite of that did decently on the place. I thought thinks might be looking up and then the emotions got the best of me. There was a gentleman on our plane in uniform and for some reason it just triggered sadness for me. I haven't seen someone in ACUs in forever. Then watching him unload his bags made me think back to how many times I had seen GB lug his around.

This was the mood I was in as I begin the trek out to my car with my luggage. It was quite the process and several people offered to help me. I think I have seen too many Law and Order: SVU episodes because my mind raced to all sorts of horrible scenarios so I politely declined after thanking them for there offer. Finally after what seemed like a sweaty hour, I arrived at my car and hit the unlock button. Nothing. No click. No unlocking. Nothing. I stuck the key in the door with a sinking feeling in my gut. Sure enough. My battery was beyond dead. Ugh. So I did what every other person in my position would do. I cried and called my mom. Sometimes I am such a baby.

Thanks to the Airport Parking Department for coming and jumping my car. And thanks to the maker of Landshark beer because it was just what I needed after a not so awesome day of traveling.

A year ago tonight...

I was feeling like a stuffed turkey aka I was starting the long, not so awesome induction process that brought me this sweet little boy!

I can't believe how quickly the past year has gone. I am one of those emotional sappy kind of days.

Max's First Haircut

The other title that I considered for this post was “Holy cow, did that all come out of you?” but I figured that might not be as appropriate or kind of me so I stuck with the First Haircut. The day of the big cut was full of adventure and not of the fun kind. There I was sitting on the deck at the cabin enjoying a nice cup of coffee while Max napped when my mom’s best friend who is also our family salonist (sidenote, but my brother legitimately thought that was a word when he was like 13 so it just kinda stuck as a family joke) called and said she could fit us in at 10:45. Awesome, except that is was 9:20 and I needed to shower, Max was napping, and then needed to be fed, and my mom decided she would join us so she needed to shower too. I accepted even though I should have realized that with a 30+ minute car ride it wasn’t really doable.

In the car we go at about 10:15, so my mom drives like a maniac slightly wild to ensure that we make the appointment on time. About 10 minutes in, Max starts crying and continues for most of the trip, I thought I was going to vomit, and even my mom was sick while she was driving. We continue on and arrive only 5 minutes late. Awesome. I open the door to get Max out and witness an awesome sight. He is covered from head to toe in vomit. It is soaked into all of his car seat and completely drenched his only outfit. Even more awesome. So I strip him down, and try to towel him off with a  few paper towels and then I haul him into the bathroom at the salon to do the best I can to eliminate the nasty sourness that was emanating from him. The only thing I had extra in the diaper bag was an onesie, but we didn’t want to upset him again right before his haircut so my child got his first hair cut in just his diaper. Classy, right?

We ran a few errands while we were in town and then headed home to deal with the nastiness that was the car seat. So the car seat was the one my mom had purchased for her car and my dad had been in charge of installing, etc, which is probably safer in the long run, because my brain does not work that way. At all. I discovered this after it took me over a half an hour to get the stupid seat unhooked and taken apart to wash. However, that is NOTHING compared to the 2 hours that it took me to put it back together. I tried so many wrong ways of assembling it. There were some definite tears and maybe a few choice words. I have discovered while I did very well in school, I am definitely not so smart in the art of car seats.   

Then to top of the day, we arrive back out to the cabin 8ish hours after we left only for Max to find a pile of dirt to roll in. Literally roll. Like a dog. So it was into the outdoor shower and outfit number 4 of the day before we left for a little dinner get together. Some days feel a little bit longer than others. And still, I cannot fathom how much vomit came out of him. It blows my mind.

Back the topic relevant to the title, Max’s hair is so cute. Gone are the looks for a scraggly haired little baby. Instead my baby looks more and more like a little boy everyday.

The pictures are a little out of order, but oh well...



Getting a kiss from Miss Wendy for being such a good boy while his hair was being cut!



The side view!

I adore this sweet boy!

He is so cute, but he smelled so bad!

Getting started! Notice the nice nakedness.

He did so well sitting still!

Good Morning!

 A full nights sleep does wonders for the attitude! I have decided that I really need to start focusing on the positive aspects of life. So even though I was a little groggy when my day started at 6:30 I remembered that that is way better than yesterday's 5:30. Now I am enjoying a great cup of coffee, watching my sweet little boy find everything naughty to play with/ do and enjoying the peacefulness. I am a little jealous of Max's energy though.

Beautiful morning!

How can your day be bad if you start with coffee in a Good Morning cup?

My early riser!

Getting ready to make some mischief :)