Life

There have been so many instances the past couple of weeks that I have thought "I should blog that" but LIFE has kept me busy and I just have not had the chance between work, the boys, getting sick, ongoing back problems....LIFE.

We are less than 40 days out from our estimated move date. Our plan as of now is for Ian to check out of his command November 16th and for us to get on the road after handing over our keys (etc) here the next morning. We hope to arrive in San Diego by Sunday November 22nd and with any luck and the grace of God hope to be in a housing unit before Thanksgiving. Monday the 23rd would be fantastic as it is my birthday. Poor Owen will spend his entire first birthday in the car probably between Iowa and Nebraska (not that he will remember any of it anyways). We are slowly buying the things we need for the trip and Ian is getting all the paperwork in so we can receive our travel pay in advance. It is strange as "exit mode" kicks in. I think Ian will be FINALLY going back to a day shift on the 19th. After more than two years on a night shift he and I are MORE than ready. I will miss my boss but I am ready to just be MOM for a while too. Who knows what will happen once we get to San Diego but for the next few months I will just enjoy that role and maybe even get some SARAH time or even better Mom and Dad time with Ian on a "normal" schedule. What a concept?! We were just talking today about how we cannot wait to have Owen in his own room and have our room back to ourselves. Just to be able to fold laundry and do things in my room while he takes naps in HIS room will be WONDERFUL! It is the little things! So far Jacob and Nathan seem really excited about moving. I don't think they fully comprehend the fact we are leaving here and not coming back (at least not in the near future). We just keep praying that we can have an address and something to talk to them about before leaving here. Our paperwork is at housing in San Diego and we are supposedly going through the "qualification" process so that we are deemed qualified for a certain number of bedrooms, specific housing due to the cat and dog etc. They will prelease you (if units are available) 45 days out...which will be Friday. Prayers are welcomed. I am really stressed about this one issue of housing although Ian tells me constantly to calm down that I have no control. Does he not realize that IS the reason I am stressed?:)

Here are a few pictures of our sweet boys from today. The first one is of the three of them piled on the couch before bed. Every once in a while Owen will actually sit with Jacob and drink his bottle:)




Owen is growing leaps and bounds. He is taking 1-4 steps quite often at this point. He still would prefer to crawl and cruises everything. I know by the time we leave here he will probably be all over walking which will just make the 5 days in the car SOOOOOO much "fun". He is starting to repeat sounds. He LOVES Ian's fish and goes up to the tank and says "ish ish ish". Ian taught him to say "shhhhh" with his finger in front of his mouth so Owen says "shhhhhhh" but with his finger IN his mouth. (too cute!) He also is into this lizard tongue thing. He and Ian do it to eachother all the time. My favorite though is he makes "mwah" kissing sounds. I can't get him to use his hand to blow a kiss but he will go around saying "mmmmmmmmmmwah" to me. I love this age! His next big milestone is going to be a hair cut. It may not look too long from the front but the back is quickly turining into a mullet. It is SO long and even curls around his ears sometimes. YUCK! Hopefully soon!

Jacob is doing fantastic in 1st grade. His teacher has the nicest things to say about him. She is already saying how much she is going to miss him. I have seen him grow so much in the past six months it really is amazing to watch. He is still my emotional boy but has such a sweet heart.

Then you have crazy Nathan who as always excells in just about everything he tries. He loves his preK class but really still misses his Miss Kathy and Miss Marlene. He asks about them almost every day when I pick him up. I need to try to get ahold of them so he can say hi/bye before we move. He is soooo excited for his first field trip next week. He leaves his class each day yelling to his teachers how much he loves them. Then we turn the corner and the little devil in him emerges. You have to love it. At least I know I can leave him places and he is an angel. I guess he is related to his mother....or so my mother loves to remind me!

Ian and I are being irresponsible parents and pulling both boys out of school Friday to go apple picking for our annual trip. The kids here get Jewish holidays off instead of Columbus day and Vetren's Day so Ian is off for a four day weekend and we thought it would be much more enjoyable during the week than on a weekend...hoping it does not rain. Look for LOTS of pictures. Hard to believe last year I had Owen bouncing around in me.

A lot is going to happen in the last part of this year. I am not 100% sure I am ready for it! But even if I am not change is coming!