Happy 1st Birthday Lil Bit!

Our baby girl turned one year old today!! It's so funny how time flies in some ways and goes so slow in other ways. I mean, this year has flown by! It seems like just yesterday we were walking the neighborhood trying to spur on labor. And now, our lil girl is ONE! And this next year that B-man will be gone, will go by sooooo slow. Time is funny that way.

We had a huge party for Boo's first bday, but took a different approach this year since we are currently living without furniture, etc. The movers came last week and moved our stuff into storage and we've been camping out in the house this week. We're moving into a hotel tomorrow. So, we just had a quiet family day, played in the snow, and enjoyed Bit enjoying her cake and bday party banner.

Here are some pics from her big day!

I did make her cake! Two nights before the movers arrived I feverishly worked on her cake...as if I didn't have 84,000 things to do to prepare for the packers. But, I just had to make her 1st cake! Don't you love Mom guilt?

She's the only one in the house with a chair! ha!

Hmmmm....

She mostly just liked getting it on her hands. She ate a tiny bit, but didn't really care too much for eating it.

Presents!

:)

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl!!!

" Happy Birthday to you..."

She had her 12 month well baby check last week and weighs 22lbs 6oz and is 29" long.  She only wants to eat finger foods, but doesn't enjoy quite the variety that Lil Boo did when he was this little. She's a very happy girl and loves to be out and about. She can be quite fiesty too when she's got her eyes set on something. We're still working on the sleeping issue, and the nursing issue. We introduced cow's milk this week, but she hasn't really taken to it yet. At this point, I'm just doing what I have to, to keep us eating and sleeping until we get settled in SC. Then, we'll get serious about the sleeping thing! I know, how many times have I said this already? Lol.


We're so in love with our Lil Bit and feel super blessed that God has chosen us to be her family. She makes me smile everyday! And I'm so grateful that B-man has been home through both pregnancies and both of our babe's first years. That's huge! 

Last Day of Swimming Lessons

...before going back to SC.

We're Gonna Miss This

Here We Go Again...

Veteran's Day

On this Veteran's Day, I'd like to express my gratitude for our country's veterans. To say 'thank you' just seems so insufficient. The sacrifices that our service men and women make and the courage and strength that they display is truly awesome. If you're like me, whenever I watch any war movie, I'm always awestruck at how soldiers are able to push forward and fight the fight under extreme circumstances. I would totally crack under the pressure and extreme weather conditions. Our freedoms are privileges and gifts, given to us by those who are courageous enough to don the uniform and stand for us all. They stand and fight to defend our homeland and the constitution of the United States of America. And for that, I am forever grateful to them all, past and present.

I'm especially proud of our family history of military veterans. Of course, you know B-man and Uncle A are currently serving in the Army. Grandpa and PawPaw also served in the Army. B-man's Uncle S and Grandpa served in the Navy. And, my Grandfathers also served in the Army.

I don't know, I guess I'm particularly emotional or reflective on this Veteran's Day as we prepare to send B-man overseas, again. Words and phrases like power of attorney, casualty assistance, family readiness groups, war, deployment, boots on the ground, hazardous duty, rear detachment, etc. have once again cropped up in our house. We are getting so close. And B-man handles it all with a much appreciated sense of calmness and a tremendous sense of duty. He never complains about being deployed and never shows any signs of fear. His attitude helps me stay calm (well, as calm as I can be). He knows this is his job and although he'd rather be home with us, he willingly accepts his role in our nation's security.  And who am I to argue with that? I've always said that he's the kind of person you want in the Army, someone who wants to be there and who won't shy away from the duties the position holds. In fact, since he's joined the Army, he's been striving for more and more responsibility! 

These two little ones below are going to grow up to be so proud of their Daddy and their military heritage.
I think I may have told you that during B-man's last jump, he took the kiddos' ya-yas with him in his pocket so that they would have something that Daddy had jumped with. We wanted to mark them in a special way so that we would know which ya-yas had made the jump (each child has several). Well, Grandpa gave us the idea to sew Airborne wings on them. We loved the idea. So, now the ya-yas display the Airborne wings that B-man also wears on his uniform showing that he is Airborne Qualified.

A friend of mine shared this bible verse today and I thought I'd pass it along to you as well...

'Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.' Psalm 138:7
Happy Veteran's Day!

I posted two other blog entries today...check them out too!

Look Who's Walkin!!

Our Lil Bit isn't so little anymore (sniff, sniff)! She's a big girl now! A couple of weeks ago, she took one itty bitty step but hasn't really done it since then. B-man was home that day so we all got to witness this motor milestone! But, now she's really starting to get along pretty good. We took these videos one morning this week. There are three separate videos, but I merged them into one playing back to back.
Boo started walking between 11 and 12 months, and Bit is following right in his footsteps. Here's a link to Boo's first steps video (I got so sad watching them b/c he's sooooo big now)!

I'm so glad that B-man was able to see her walk before his deployment.
:)


Lil Bit takes steps!



Check out our snow removal post below.

Snow Removal

This first picture below is already out of date. It has snowed several more inches since I took this photo the other day. It's crazy to me to think that this snow will be here until May! Cah-razy! B-man and Boo have been outside on several occasions to shovel the driveway. I had my turn yesterday while B-man was at work. Whew, that was hard work! What makes is particularly stressful is trying to get the snow out into the street before the tractors and dumptrucks come to take it away. You're allowed to shovel into the road as long as you do it before they get to your street. If they beat you to it, then you have to shovel into the yard, which is not ideal. Boo and I didn't win the race yesterday. Lol! They came when we were about 1/4 of the way done. So, into the yard it had to go. Boo was so distraught because B-man had been telling him to shovel into the street and here I was telling him to shovel into the yard. There have been at least two other occasions where B-man has been out there shoveling against the clock as we could hear and see the heavy equipment getting closer to our street.



Here's a video of the snow removal process.
They come by with these graders and pile up the snow into the middle of the road.

And then they bring in this other machine and it dumps the snow into the dumptrucks.
The dumptrunks then take the snow to fields and dumps the snow. It's quite the process.


Let me also just say that the snow doesn't slow anyone down here! There have been no school delays or cancellations. In fact, Boo's preschool class went out and played in the snow on Thursday. We have to bring in all of their snow clothes everyday from now until May!

The days are getting shorter and it's pretty cold out there, but we're still having fun, I think. Gotta love the adventure!

Weather Stats: It's 16 degrees right now and feels like 7.
Sunrise: 8:54 a.m.

Sunset: 4:30 p.m.

The Thing About Daddies...

....is that the moment they step in, the children behave amazingly! I mean for real, what's up with that? Just take a look at this video of B-man wiping Lil Bit down after supper and then watch the video of me wiping her down after supper. As you can see, she HATES it when I do it, but doesn't mind a bit when B-man does. In fact, she sometimes flirts with him while he's wiping peas out of her ears.

B-man wipes down Bit.



Mama wipes down Bit.

And, it continues on the changing table. Lil Bit hates to be on her back and refuses to stay there while I'm changing her diaper. She rolls, and squirms, and fights me the whole time. Now, when her Daddy changes her, she just lies there still as can be and looks up at him adoringly (gag me with a spoon). Haha!

And Lil Boo is the same way! When I go out to run errands on the weekend, Boo never asks B-man for a single morsel of food and is happy to play by himself for hours (okay, not hours, but you get the idea). And then, the exact moment that I walk in the door, Boo runs over to me and the first thing he says to me is, "Mama, can I have a snack?" which really gets under my skin because he's constantly asking for food during the day and it drives. me. crazy. When this happens, I'll look over at B-man and he'll mouth to me, "He never asked me for anything," and I'll say, "I know, I know." 

So what is it about Daddies??

Halloween Recap 2011

B-man is enjoying a little time off, so we got to enjoy our first snow of the year together. Boo helped shovel the driveway and then we went sledding. We came inside to warm up and rest before having some chili for supper. Afterwards, we donned our costumes and headed out for trick-or-treating. It was a great day! Making more memories to last us through the times when we have to be apart.