Snow days....

We've had many snow days recently here in Ohio... more than I would like in one winter, but I can honestly say that in Andrew's opinion, there can never be too many :) Last year we were living in Arkansas, where there was no snow, but this year Ohio has provided us plenty of the white stuff so that Andrew could enjoy his first snow days!

Getting ready for our first snow experience!!!

Trying to walk through the drifts

Andrew's favorite snow activity to to help shovel...this will come in handy when he's a little older :)

Our "New" House

On January 2nd we made the most permanent move of our married life to our “new” house.

Zac bought the house in 2005 before we were married and lived in it for a few years. In 2007 we got married and soon after moved to Enid, OK. When we moved, instead of trying to sell the house we decided that renting it would be a better decision seeing as the housing market was starting to go down and we wanted to keep it around to build equity. So, we rented it for almost 3 years while traveling and thought we would never live in it again, but all of that changed in December when we got it back and started remodeling!

We spent the month of December fixing it up, painting and replacing carpet. Once it was ready we moved in! On a very, very, very cold and snowy day we moved from our apartment with the help of all of our friends! We are really enjoying all of the space and the feeling that we have finally settled somewhere!

Here are some pictures of the house! We are still working on unpacking a few things here and there but for the most part are set up! I don’t think that we will ever unpack every box - but I’d like to think that someday we will!

Living room

Andrew's Playroom

Dining room (we still have to get our table from storage)

What to do......?

It seems in our family that we don’t waste time doing much of anything. In the 3 short years that Zac and I have been married, we’ve moved 5 times to 3 different states and had a baby. For most of those 3 years we have been told what to do, where to go and when to do it by the military but now we find ourselves out “on our own” for the first time in our life.

We made our first huge decision this fall to stay in Ohio and try to make living in one state and Zac commuting to another for drill weekends and trips work out so that he could keep his job in Ohio, which has better opportunities for him. We also decided to move back into a house that Zac bought in 2005 and stop renting it so that we could finally settle somewhere. These decisions came somewhat easily as there was a clear feeling for both of us as to what we wanted for our life and these choices seemed to make the most sense.

Once we got our taste of freedom and a chance to make some choices of our own, there seem to be endless options for what else we want to do with our life now that we can control some of it. This brings me to the big one that has been weighing on our minds recently; when to have baby #2. For most families, baby #2 can be an easy thing to plan. You decide what your optimal spacing is and then go for it once you know that you are ready for the challenge of adding another little one to the family. For us it is a different story. Being that we are a military family, we have to face the challenge of how to fit deployments into our family planning. This is where we are having issues with the planning part.

This decision has become one of the most difficult things I have ever thought about and has truly been consuming my thoughts for months now. As it is now, Zac will be gone during our “ideal” time to have baby #2, so that has left us trying to figure out what is best – before he leaves or after? Do we have one before and then I'm alone with a baby and toddler or do we wait and run the risk of a 4 year spacing, which is not what we wanted? We have so many questions and thoughts as we try to figure it all out. We know we want the next one sometime soon, but how do we work it all out or is it even possible that we can make it all fit into our schedule when it is something that we do not have control over? What to do? I have so many more thoughts, we both do, but there is no way to get everything that is running through my mind down.

I feel like blogging about this because maybe it will give me a little more clarity on the situation, or maybe some of my fellow mama friends and military family could lend some advice. However, I believe that whatever does happen for us will be fine and will work out, I just wish it was a little easier to figure out! Sometimes it helps to get things out there into the world – so that is what I’m trying!

trying something new

I've been practcing with some new software to help keep everyone up-to-date. I finally got around to putting something together and actually posting it. Hope you enjoy...

Make a Smilebox postcard

Andrew has learned a new skill!

For the past few weeks Andrew has been working on his walking skills. He started out by standing up by the couch or the coffee table and reaching out, taking a step and then falling. Then he started taking a few more steps, three was about the limit for the last week or so. We have been working with him daily and trying to get him up and moving as much as possible. We use his mickey mouse truck to help him practice by placing it a little out of his reach and letting him reach for it, taking a few steps to get to it until he falls. Here is a video of him trying to make it to his truck.

Tonight, he took more steps than he ever has in his life! This next video we shot tonight, he made it all the way from the coffee table to his daddy :) He did this several times and we were able to catch it on tape - one of the hardest things to do!

Zac is Coming Home :)

And now for a post about me...

My hubby comes home tomorrow and I cannot wait! It has been 3 months since we left him in Little Rock, AR and he traveled to New Castle, DE to continue his training with the Air Force, while we moved to Worthington, OH to be near family. I am so happy that we are finally done with the training and he can come home and start to live a normal life again, and that our life as a family can go back to normal!

These past 3 months that we have been apart definitely had intense moments, but we all survived and it will be great that we can start doing things like a "normal" family once again. No more 8 hour drives to visit, no more "single"married mom, and no more living in a hotel room for him! For the next few months we get to live a normal life, until of course it is time to move again!

YEAH! Counting down the hours until he is home! For all of my fellow military spouses out there - you know what this feels like!!!!!!

AHA!

Andrew had a super fun day today; he got to visit the AHA children’s museum in Lancaster, OH with his Great-Aunt Cindy! The museum offers many different interactive stations for children of all ages. We spent a lot of time in the Plop Zone, which was for kids ages 0-3. It was an area where Andrew could crawl around and play freely, without the risk of being run over by a bigger kid! There was a foam slide and stairs to climb up and many balls to play with. Andrew practiced climbing up the stairs and sliding down the slide on his tummy (face first) and also climbing up the slide and trying to go down the stairs face first! Let’s just say it was never a dull moment keeping up with him!

http://www.aha4kids.org/

We also spent some time at the water table playing with boats and duckies and trying not to get soaked. Then we played in a pretend house for a while working with tools and dug at the sand table with a rake and a shovel.

There were many other stations including a fire truck (with costumes), a Lego table, a bank, grocery store, kitchen, vet office, stage (with microphones and costumes), a garden and fishing! Many of those activities were for slightly older kids so we will have to go back some time and learn all about those!

Here are some pictures from our fun day!

Heading up the stairs!

Interesting way to go down the slide!!!
Trying to figure out how those balls got in there and how do they come out?
"YEAH, SAND!" Andrew's new favorite thing! We turned this kid into a sand monster!

Andrew had so much fun climbing on things at the museum that he decided he wanted to test out his skills at home! This is what he does when mom turns her back :)

"I'm just trying to get a good look out the window!"