Home is where the Air Force sends us....: 2012

This Time Last Year

30 December 2012

Remember this!? This time last year I was full on pregnant and ~~tried~~ to cleverly disguise my bump as a Santa belly. Oh, what a difference a year makes.

Then there was NYE. The day before the year that completely turned our lives upside down. I looked cute and happy, but I was screaming for a back rub or even a stiff drink by the end of the night! We were celebrating a friends nuptials and wide awake well into 2012. Three short weeks later, lil B arrived, which is all the time I have to prepare for his big ONE! My mom and sister Tina will be here to help out. Let the party planning begin!

Right now I am listening to Darren tickle Bradyn. I adore B's laugh and mutant hairs that are beginning to show on his head. Strawberry blonde no less. He's going to a be a little heart breaker.
B is now into the destroy anything in sight phase. What you put down he picks up and throws across the room. If there's a drawer or door within his reach, he's opening it and tossing out anything he can grasp in those death grips. Sometimes it's my mouth, nose and ears. He gives us several tight squeezes/hugs followed by a drooly kiss right in the eyeballs. My lil Houdini is quite the escape artist too and rarely sits still through a diaper change and disappears in the blink of an eye. He's getting to be so fast on his feet! He started walking on my brother's birthday, so we know he has great timing. Poor kid has gotten four teeth in the last month though, followed by ear tubes. Hopefully the surgery was curative for his long-lasting infection. We're not entirely sure at this point. He will go in for his 12 month well check and follow-up this week and then we'll see. Fingers crossed.

First Chrsitmas-11 months

Flag Artwork

The flag Bradyn and his class made for the art auction. We won it with 12 cans of food, which were donated to the food shelter!

Turkey Time!

18 November 2012

We have had two turkey dinners and it's not even Thanksgiving yet! One at the CDC, and one with co-workers last night.

We were the only parents to show up at the CDC. At least we didn't have to stand in line and wait for food! We even walked away with a great piece of artwork B helped make. An American flag with tiny hand and feet prints. (Pic to come!)

The other parents couldn't make it and were most likely sick. Bradyn is finally feeling better after a month long ear infection and ugly bout of thrush. He had a 104 temp last week and had to stay home from school with Darren for two days. Turns out he was teething too and he has his first top tooth coming in!

Lil B is 10 months old today! He took five steps the other day. I am going to have to strategically place the Christmas tree this year. Most likely he will find a way to get himself tangled up in it. He is starting to eat more solid food and loved his first taste of pumpkin pie! He can also clap and loves to sing and dance. One of these days I will get him on video. He has such a loving personality, but he has a stubborn side too. Especially when he doesn't get a long enough nap! We are enjoying every stage with him and wonder what he will be doing this time next month. Eight more weeks until Grandma Rachel and Aunt T come for a visit to help celebrate the big ONE!

Weekend Wonders

12 November 2012

The poppy is worn to remember those who sacrificed their lives during war.
Remembrance Poppy

A teacher friend of mine has her students write about their weekends every Monday and cleverly titles it, "Weekend Wonders". Last weekend was Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day here in England and we ventured to Manchester and Birmingham so Darren could pick up some more of his "Walking Dead" graphic novels. He has quite the collection and even attended a comic book convention. I never thought I'd live to see the day the words Darren and comic book convention would be uttered in the same sentence. He says some day B will have a lot of money! :) While he was busy toting B around town, I made sure to get in some much needed retail therapy for myself. Manchester is filled with stores galore and although it was mad, I roughed the crowds and found a lot of great pieces for work and some inexpensive clothes for Bradyn.

We spent one night in Birmingham and two nights in Manchester. Bradyn doesn't exactly love sleeping in hotels. (He clearly has nothing against the tv screens in them.) These unknown places freak him out just a little and he has a hard time sleeping in unfamiliar places. The first night was rough because there was no baby crib for him so we had to do some co-sleeping. The next night our genius minds came up with a plan to make our own crib. See below. Yes, those are the two chairs from the corner.

He would let me give him a bath morning, noon and night he loves it so much.

Gorgeous staircase in Britannia Hotel-Manchester

First Halloween

31 October 2012

I was just looking at this picture and the jack-o-lantern sitting beside B thinking, this time last year I was painting a pumpkin on my belly!

Thanks, Grandma Rachel for the costume! I nearly bought the same one on base. Great minds I tell ya!

Bradyn as Pooh Bear

Bradyn didn't really take to the candy at first. He just thought they were toys and threw the suckers on the floor. I let him have a couple licks of one and then couldn't pry it away from his chubby little hands. Luckily he loves bananas just as much!

Jo helped hand out candy too!

Bradyn's third wardrobe change of the day. Glow in the dark skelton pjs.

By the way, this lil critter is on the move and is taking his first steps already! He stands on his own and puts his hands up in the air as if to say, "Look what I can do!" We will have a walker by 10 months, I'm sure of it! He also understands when I sign "banana" and "milk" and says "mmmm" every time. LOL!

A Pumpkin Patch...

21 October 2012

Filled with green pumpkins, but a pumpkin patch just the same. What do 9 month olds know about pumpkin patches any way?

Linton Zoo-Linton, Cambridgeshire

13 October 2012

Our first zoo trip, minus Darre. He was jealous though because we got to see some
pretty cool animals up close and personal.

Our friend Sarah and her daughter Cale joined us. Cale was pretty active, so I didn't get any pictures of her, but her friend Zoe is in the background feeding the kangaroo some grass.

Afterwards we ventured over to Hixton to a quaint little gastro pub called the Red Lion and enjoyed some delicious sea bass, with leek and potato soup and mixed vegetables. It was a chilly fall day so we sat in the corner near a cozy little fire place. A perfect day out for all of us.

I think B will be walking in a month or two. He's pulling himself up and balancing with one hand very well, some times with no hands at all. He waves his left hand to say, bye. Too freggin' cute! He is so much fun at this stage because he is becoming more social and I think he is beginning to understand what are saying. He even listens attentively when we are talking about him and then starts laughing right along with us.
We just love him and he makes us smile more every day.

A Train, Bruce Wayne and No RAIN!

Bradyn 8 1/2 months

8 October 2012

Clever title for a post because it encompasses everything that was our weekend in Nottingham. (Thank you Mr. Columbus for giving us another day off!) Tickets to Nottingham were a mere 18 pounds per person and B is free! So of course we didn't waste any time booking those tickets.

I can't believe B is old enough to sit in his own seat now. So grown up. His eyes and lips are gorgeous in this picture and I love his little bald head. He was a perfect train companion the entire journey. He also could have gotten a couple phone numbers from the two young ladies sitting behind us. What a flirt!

We walked two miles from our hotel to Wallaton Deer Park, which happened to be next to a golf course. We were so interested in the people playing around the deer, that we nearly missed the one directly in front of us.

Bradyn wanted out to the deer too.

Just a few short yards away we oohed and ahhed
Wallotan Hall-otherwise known as, Bruce Wayne (Batman) Manor

So before going to Nottingham I googled other things to do during our stay besides the usual shopping and Hooter's wings we typically partake in. When this beauty came up on the must see list, we were pretty excited. Darren is big comic book fan nowadays and he's even more obsessed with Batman and his growing collection of comic books, which he says Bradyn or his family will make a fortune off some day. We have yet to see the movie in which Wollaton Hall appears (The Dark Knight Rises), but I'm sure it will be out on DVD soon and then we can say, "We were there!"

Da, Da

27 September 2012

B seriously woke up on Darren's birthday last Friday morning and said, "Da, Da." It was the sweetest moment. Now he is obsessed with it. I'm just a wee bit jealous, but since his first word was Mom, I'm over it. :)

You can see he is a busy boy and took every single game and dvd off the shelf.

How Do We Do It?

23 September 2012

I scrolled through past blog posts and thought, "Man, am I glad I blogged about B doing that for the first time." I updated Bradyn's baby book yesterday and I sorted through his clothes, weeding through the ones that no longer fit. This morning I washed his bottles and labeled them with the new Inchbug name and date labels I purchased online so I wouldn't have to write his name and date on each bottle every day before taking them to the CDC. I then picked up toys off the floor, which were trailed all over the living room, and I washed even more dishes left behind by Darren who was up watching UFC all night. In between doing all that, I some how managed to get papers corrected and into my gradebook, prepared homework packets, and emailed myself some reminders for the week.
I have a home list and a work list, and although my lists are never complete, at least I made a small dent in them this weekend. How do us moms do it? The only answer I could come up with was, I don't know, we just do. We care so much for our family that we put them first before ourselves and still find time to do the 100 million other things on our list. Whatever doesn't get done today will just have to wait until tomorrow. And even if I mark 0 things off those lists, that's ok because life's too short to worry about what there is TO DO! Sometimes it's important to JUST BE.

By the way, I highly recommend seeing the movie, "I Don't Know How She Does It", which was my inspiration for this blog post today. I love SJP and although I read the book by the Welsh author, Allison Pearson first, I think this movie was far better and a gentle reminder of how us moms may have two lives, but neither one of them are worth living unless we have time to enjoy them.

I'm looking at Bradyn sprawled out on the floor, who is currently snoozing and as comfy as can be. Stealing just 5 minutes for myself to post to my blog/public journal. So very therapeutic. Ahh, I feel better already. (Must remember to back this thing up! lol!)