2011 in Review!

This year has been a very interesting one indeed! It has had some very high highs and some very low lows. We started the year off with Caden getting very sick and having to spend two days in the hospital. Caden turned three and we welcomed Ashton into our family. We made several visits to Texas and had several visits from family. We had many family fun days and really enjoyed being a family of four. Nick and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. Caden started his first year of preschool and we got involved in a church, where I was Baptized. We made some really good friends this year. We remained relatively healthy and still trying to figure out some issues with Caden. Ashton continued to grow and do something new every day. He is so cute and loves doing anything his brother does. He is our little dare devil but still loves snuggle time. Caden has went from being a toddler to a little boy before our eyes. He comes up with the funniest things and is about the most routine boy there is. He has the cutest smile and still loves to let me snuggle him like a baby, which I know will soon be gone. Nick has had some of the biggest changes. He left the position he had for three years, went to a training school, and now on to sea duty in a new state. Nick has really stepped up to the plate of fatherhood this year. He was able to witness his first birth with Ashton, and survived (barely!). He has worked hard with college and bettering our family. He has tried hard to give us time, when generally there aren't enough hours in the day for us. I love all three of my boys more than anything else, and cannot imagine life without them. As for me, I have just learned how to be a mom of two boys. I made it through a perfect birthing experience and bounced back to my pre-pregnancy weight although my hips haven't gotten the message. I have tried to stop stressing as much, some days are better than others. Tried to be a better person and do unto others how I want to be treated, although it too can be hard somedays. I have just tried to enjoy the small things with all three boys because everything goes by so fast. This really has been one of the best years for us, I have loved almost every aspect of it. If you minus the last week of it, it was next to perfect. Bring on 2012!! Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!

The Hard Parts. . .

I am sure I will soon have many posts similar to this given the situation. But I thought I already have enough for one, so here goes. Obviously the hardest part of being apart is being apart. I miss everything about Nick, both the good and the ever so small annoying thing. That aside, there are somethings I have noticed that are extra hard. I was doing laundry the other day and I started folding it, and there was some of Nick's clothes in the pile. I, of course, cried folding his socks. I cried going into the closet and seeing all of his empty hangers on his side. I cried going into the bathroom and looking at our toothbrush holder. It's so stupid but my toothbrush looked so lonely by itself. The bed is the worst. I could go on for hours how hard night time is. But his side of the bed being empty was too much so I now sleep on his side. Not getting to fight over the phone charger is sad to me. No one to warm my cold toes while we watch tv is hard. When I hear Nick's ringtone it is hard, the first time I cried. I could go on forever, but my eyes are officially filled with tears and I can no longer see. Post and Carry on with the rest of your day.

Goodbye!!!

The worst picture I could ever take.  Nick walking away from our car for the last time for I don't even know how long.  The goodbye was very sad but honestly him packing was more sad to me.  The rest of the day I just chilled out at the house with my boys.  We did not do anything much and I had a few tears, but I was better than I expected.  I even got up enough energy to take down all of the Christmas decorations, clean the house and put back the regular decorations.  I was pretty impressed with myself.  Although it is pretty depressing taking down Christmas decorations in general, and then by yourself, and then on the worst day ever.  I survived today and now a million more.  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day. 

Tear Fest!

Today we all stayed in our pajamas and enjoyed each other and packed. I don't really want to talk much about today because this was probably the hardest day of my life. I cried hard for a good majority of the day, uncontrollably. I don't know why I thought I could handle this, I cannot at all. I thought going through this so much before I could pick right back up with it. That is so far from the truth. I cannot handle this at all, this is way too difficult. I am ready to give up and we haven't even separated yet. I really cannot say much more because it is too hard. This is just too hard, I hope it gets easier. Post and Carry on with the rest of your day.

My Strong Ashton!

This is the cute little walker my parents got Ashton for Christmas.  Ashton loves pushing it around but it goes a little to fast by itself for him.  So normally I hold on to it to slow it down a bit.  I started getting tired of bending over and thought, let's see if he can push Caden.  Well Caden is

the exact weight to slow it down enough to let Ashton push it alone.  So Ashton pushed Caden all over the house and it was so cute.  I do not know why Caden could not smile for this perfect picture opportunity but I promise he was having fun.  I love how cute these

brothers are together.  Caden loves to push Ashton around too, which is equally as cute.  I know one day they will be trying to kill each other, so I am taking in this loving time while I can!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day! 

A Sick Nick!

Well the inevitable has happened. I knew it would happen but was hoping for the best. We drove straight through last night and got home at one in the morning. I was awoken at four with Nick puking. Today is Monday and Nick is scheduled to leave at 10 am tomorrow. Today was our last family day and day to pack. Instead I am stuck taking care of the worst sick person there is! Ashton has not gotten sick since the hospital on Saturday but he has had a million explosive diapers. Nick needs so much stuff from the store, we need groceries, and most of all we need formula. Caden and I feel fine but I am just waiting for us to get sick. I had to face my fears of shopping alone with the kids (since I will have to be doing it always now) and I took the boys to Wal Mart the day aft Christmas. I was scared, but thankfully it was not too crowded and both boys wer perfect. I was hoping I would get home to a healthy hubby, but he was still miserable. Now I know after Ashton, my nephew, my sister, and my mom all had this horribly bad, it was no walk in the park. But I think after being stressed with him leaving and taking care of him all day, I let it get to me. Nick I am very sorry for today. I was so mad that our last day together was this. I was so mad that we were parting on such a horrible last day. Maybe it would be better and make it easier if I was mad at him, the goodbye tomorrow might be easier. But I doubt it. I think I also hated that he got all day in bed and I got the kids. When I always will have the kids and when I am sick with this, I won't get the help and attention he got. I know that is a really bad way to think about it and I hate myself for thinking that way but it is the truth. I don't want my husband to leave at all and I don't want this to be it. This horrible post does have a somewhat happy ending. My sick hubby called whoever he needed to call and was able to change his itinerary. His flight now leaves at 10 am on Thursday!!!! I am so happy but still sad. Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!

The Worst Trip Home?

After a quick Christmas morning with my family and a few more presents opened, we left Texas.  We had plans of stopping just past half way, but with the way our trip went, we drove straight through.  Our trip started off like this. . . A huge wreck in Dallas caused bumper to bumper traffic.  The

 poor people had Christmas presents all over the road, as bad as our trip was, my heart was with them.  And we did get a pretty view of the skyline.  The boys even both slept some, so it is looking nice.  Goodbye Ashy's Christmas shirt that he wore only once!  We stopped about a million times because Ashton was having explosive diarrhea.  Everytime he had one we would stop and have to throw away his clothes and blanket guarding his car seat because I had nothing to do with them.  On a side note can you believe those eyelashes??  Anyways, I lost track of how many outfits were ruined but it was too many.  Then somewhere

down the way Caden started feeling sick.  Luckily I stole a bucket from the hospital the day before.  So we spent a lot of the trip home like this picture.  Luckily Caden never got sick but we have decided he gets car sick or motion sickness.  He was playing on the iPad and we are in the car which he cannot see out the windows like SUV.  Nick is really prone to car sickness, so I guess he gets it from his daddy.  There were many more wreck traffic waits and lots of rain to slow us down.  Nick decided after how the boys were that we should just drive straight through to get home and be in our own beds.  Which I am beyond glad we did, as you will find out in tomorrow's post.  : ) I mean : (   I do not think I am doing this post justice in how bad this trip home was but I have had time to sleep since then.  I guess it was a lot more bad in the moment then it was looking back on it.  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day.  

mERry christmas!!!

 Today was one of the more scarier days of my life, especially in Ashton's life.  Early on Christmas Eve morning I was awoken to the strangest sound.  I shot out of bed and got Nick up in record time, to find Ashton in his crib projectile vomiting.  All four of us are sleeping in my sister's extra bedroom, so luckily I could hear it fast.  But I scooped him up and he continued to puke about 10 times.  It was so scary.  So after yelling to get everyone up and cleaning up the mess and Ashton still not stopping, we decided to make the trip to the ER.  I know they cannot really help vomit but I was so scared.  I was having flashbacks to Caden who ended up being put in the hospital for dehydration.  I had no idea what was the matter with him.  He got sick on the way there and there several times.  The doctor said it was a bug and gave him some medicine to stop the puking.  He also said that everyone else would get it and be prepared!       
So after coming home that morning, we tried to take it easy on the no sleep we had.  Ashton never got sick again but he just didn't look like he felt good.  We had a whole lot planned and I didn't know what to do.  My cute little nephew was getting baptized so of course we wanted

to go to that.  Nick and Ashton stayed in the back, just in case and I took pictures up at the front.  Colton (affectionately called Coco by my family) is a true momma's boy so he cried in the pastor's arms but it was hilarious and the whole congregation was laughing.  After the service we then had Christmas with my mom's family.  We again tried to stay away and didn't stay too long.  That

night back at my sister's, Ashton started the explosive diaper phase of the illness which was equally not fun.  My sister wanted to get a cake for Jesus's birthday.  I did not know she was doing this and just saw the finished product.  I told her she should have gotten her money back because it looked horrible.  Come to find out, she wrote the words.  Oops!!  She definitely did not get her decorating skills from me.  I still laugh every time I see this picture.  The boys still loved the cake and enjoyed getting the late night treat!  Merry Christmas Eve everyone out there!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!   

Nick Goes to College!

Because of Christmas, we really haven't been talking about Nick leaving. All of our countdowns have been for Christmas, not daddy leaving. But I mean who wants to count down to such a dreaded day?? So I am not sure now that it is coming up so fast if we did a good or bad thing. Since for all Caden knows Santa already came on the 10th, it is time to start preparing Caden. Well we got a new ipad2 for Christmas from my parents and we downloaded many Blue's Clues for our car trip. If you haven't caught on by now, Blues Clues could be the best thing ever, according to Caden. One of his new favorite episodes is where Steve (the main character) is leaving and being replaced by the new lead, Joe. They accomplish this bc the 30 something year old character who has been on the show for years, is going to college. Now Caden has no idea what college is but knows that Steve is living there and will be there for a very long time. Now, if you don't see where this is going, you must not have a preschooler's mind around you. After telling Caden, daddy would be gone for a very long time and we would miss him a lot. The first thing he responds with is, "is daddy going to college like Steve?". What else could I say, but yes? So now all Caden talks about is daddy going to college and how we are going to miss him and Steve. I know Caden doesnt get it now and it hurts Nick, but soon he will and it will be sad. Post and Carry on with the rest of your day.

Texas=Food!!

Our trips to Texas are focused around three things: family, activities, and food. Unfortunately this trip is too short to get to do anything really fun, especially for the boys. Christmas means definite family time and we have got to and will see a lot of family. But most importantly (I'm kidding!) we have got to have some yummy food!!! Nick has had his two tacos from Jack in the Box, I have had Scholotzkys, we have had donuts, also Mrs Bairds Donuts, and had Mexican food twice! We are running out of time for more places that we usually go to, but I am glad we have already gotten to eat at all of these places. Next to my family, I think Texas food is what I miss the most!! : ). Post and Carry on with the rest of your day.

My Surprise!!!

Nick and I don't normally exchange presents for any occasion because we generally do not have the money for it and what money we do have I would rather go to the boys.  That being said I decided to get Nick a going away present.  More so, remember us, present.  So one night awhile back I stayed up all night (okay it was really around 4 am) making a book.  I made it on Wal Mart of all places and beyond thrilled with how it came out.  I designed every page, all the layouts, the pictures and what it said.  It was time consuming but brought me back to my high school days of yearbook editor.  It is a hardback book that came with a bonus mini version for free.  So we kept the tiny one for the boys and I gave the big one to Nick.  I doubt he has looked at it because every time he tries to, he cries!  Shhh!!! Don't tell him I told you!  : )  I am really impressed with the quality and price and think I will be making him update books every so often too.  I had pictures of the inside but with my phone and they came out blurry on the blog so this is just the cover, but trust me it is awesome!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!  

To Texas We Go!!!

So here we are again, another trip to Texas.  Although there is so much going on with us right now, we really wanted to make this trip.  I do not know the next time Nick will be able to go home to see my family or get really good food.  So we decided to make a very short trip home for Christmas but be back in Florida on Christmas day before Nick leaves on the 27th.  Here is one of the most exciting pictures of the trip, although we still have many hours till we are there after passing this sign.  Caden has always been easy in the car, we have been lucky.  Ashton came along to remind us how lucky we were with Caden.  He screamed a good majority     

of the trip.  I sat in the back with him, so I could be right there to entertain him.  I don't think this helped at all.  He still screamed and Caden just slept through it all. This is about a 12 hour drive for us with stops and it was a long 12 hours.  When I drive, and Nick rides in the back, Ashton stops screaming.  And

as you can tell by the picture, they all sleep.  I didn't get to sleep one time.  I do not think this is fair, hence me putting up this lovely picture of my hubby!  Love you babe!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day.  

Packing, Packing, Packing!!!

Once again it is time to pack up the family and make a trip to Texas for Christmas. I have become quite good at packing us quickly and efficiently with all of our road trips. Luckily many family members in Texas have babies so I don't need to pack baby essentials or toys, mainly I just need clothes. Typically I spend most of the day doing laundry and pack after the boys are asleep. Today I started earlier and had the car loaded before dark. . . A first! I was pretty proud of how much I condensed our stuff in a two suitcases. What started to take up room were presents and all of the extra bags I took. Our snacks, toys, baby food. . . they all start adding up. We also made the decision to take our new Altima since it has better gas mileage and next to no miles. Unfortunately that means we have not a lot of space and Nick and I will be taking turns sitting in the back seat. I am very excited to go home but it is also very bittersweet. When we come back to Florida, Nick will be leaving the very next day. So while I am excited to be home, I know what will always be in the back of my mind. I just hope we can enjoy ourselves in Texas and not think about the bad. Post and Carry on with the rest of your day.

Another Christmas!

Today we celebrated Christmas with my parents.  They too had the same reasoning we had, in that they didn't want to go home with all of these presents just to turn around and bring them back.  The only difference was they were flying and we are driving, so it would have

been us toting the presents around.  So another Christmas not on Christmas it was!  My parents always going above and beyond on spoiling all of us.  I really am thankful for that but they totally do not have to.  I would be perfectly happy with the boys getting something.  Nothing big,  

just something to unwrap because they are so fun to watch.  Caden got a race track, a mail box and a cash register.  These three things really sum up Caden.  He loves Blue's Clues so the mailbox was perfect.  He loves cars and this one he can race against someone else.  And the

cash register is for my little worker who loves service jobs.  He got tons of other stuff but these were the big ones that I can remember.  : )  Ashton got a cool walker that he loves, a Jack in the Box, and tons of random little toys.  Nick and I got our awesome camera, an iPad2, and a Nintendo 3DS.  My parents really spoiled all of us!!  Thanks mom and dad!  We got them a Blue Ray DVD player because it was time for them to enter 2011 and a movie a piece.  My dad always wants the biggest present, jokingly.  That is his sense of humor.  So I wrapped up a storage tub and filled it with tissue paper and had the movie on bottom.  We all found it pretty funny!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!

A Christmas Tradition!!!

I started making hand-print Christmas decorations 3 years ago.  I could kick myself for not doing it Caden's first Christmas, but I can't go back in time.  I really enjoy making these and love how they turn out.  The first year I did the Reindeer, the next was the Christmas tree, and now this year both boys made Snowmen.  The canvas is really forgiving with paint and a baby wipe (fyi) and feet are much easier to do then hands.

 Truth be told most of the toes and some of the fingers are my thumbprints.  It's the thought that counts right?  I have no idea why the blog turned the last picture, because it did not upload that way and I cannot figure out how to change it back.  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!

  

Christmas Baby!!!

So with my new camera, I naturally feel as though I am a photo- grapher.  Actually, I have always had the photo- graphy bug, I just always had a so-so camera.  Now I feel like I can legitimately take pictures that are somewhat decent.  I have seen many people trying the

Santa Hat pose with their babies, so naturally I had to try.  The first pose is Nick's favorite.  I love his smile but wish you could see the hat more.  The next pose is just a silly face to me.  The last one is the one I ended up using (for Facebook that is) because you could see the hat the

 best.  Naturally I had to play with it and make the red pop, which was something new for me.  Prepare yourself for more picture shoots, I can feel myself wanting to be a photographer! : )  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day. 

A Day of Lasts!!!

Today was Caden's last day of Mother's Day Out until next year!!!  Okay, I totally mean until January of 2012, but still!!  I can't believe how close it is till the year is ending.  I have met one of my best friends ever through this program, so I love MDO for that.  However, I am not very happy with how

they actually handle some things.  Working in a daycare and even having Caden in one last year, I expect certain things.  Christmas, especially being at a Baptist church, I thought would be a big ordeal.  No, they had nothing at all planned.  No class party.  No class program.  No get together at all.  Last minute they decided to have a story time that we (Sarah and I) decided to go to, and we were the only parents there.  I am glad I went, because I love having any and every opportunity to see how Caden interacts and what he does in school.  I am disappointed in the school but Caden loves it, so I suppose that is all that really should matter.  Nick's last day stationed in Florida was also today.  He graduated from his school and rushed over to see Caden.  He surprised us in uniform (yay!!) and it was so cute when Caden saw him.  Nick kind of stole the show away from story time for a few of the kids.  It is bittersweet that Nick is not stationed in FL anymore.  I at first hated it here but now as our time is coming to an end, I am really sad.  We have even talked about our next shore duty could even be back here if there is nothing in Texas.  How is that for a change of heart?  Don't get me wrong, it is still not for me but it is our home.  We have lived here for over three years.  We had our second baby here and basically raised our first here too.  This is the first place I felt like a family and where our first real home was at.  I am most sad that he is leaving and I am not, but this is the decision we made together and I hope we can get through this.  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!     

Date Night!!!

Thanks to our friends the Loud's, we once again had a date night!!  Can you believe it??  That is two date night, in about a month's time.  They had gotten us a gift card to Olive Garden, so we took full advantage of that.  I love Olive Garden, but it is too quiet for my boys, so I only get it To Go.  It was so odd being there without the boys but so very nice.  Is it weird that as much as I want a break from the boys, that I miss them so much when I am apart from them?  There was an adorable baby in the restaurant that everyone was in love with.  It made me miss my boys even more because I wanted everyone to see our adorable boys.  That sounds pretty stupid typing it because I am sure my boys would have stressed me out instead of being this ideal perfection that I am imagining.  Oh well!  I had a great mini-date with my husband and am glad we had this one last alone time.  Thanks Sarah!!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!

Poor Caden!!!

I thought this picture was too funny!!  I check on the boys every night before I go to bed, mainly to cover them both up.  Both boys are like their dad and sleep so hot and don't keep covers on.  Where the more covers a bed has, the happier I am.  I guess this night Caden was extra cold and decided to cover up, but used his pillows.  It makes us look too poor that we don't have blankets!!  I promise that there are four blankets on his bed, and I can see two in the picture! : )  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!

Senioritis!

I am so proud of Nick for finally getting all of his stuff together with college. He actually has been at it for some time and is currently two classes shy of having his Associates Degree in Fire Science. He is going to continue on and get his Bachelors but the doors start opening up in the Navy with just an Associates. I know he doesn't much care for what he is studying but he is putting that aside so he can better our family and I am so proud of him for that. Nick is taking two classes at a time in what I think are 10 week sessions. It is all online and all self regulated, meaning he has to be on top of everything. Well I am all about doing all the work in the beginning and then be done with it and relax the rest of the time. He had been doing pretty good with this, but this time with everything going on he has been a major procrastinator. Now with just a few days left he basically has two whole classes to finish. This means that our last moments to spend together he is having to do school work. I really have not been very happy with for this, and I kind of feel bad. I am selfish in wanting to spend the last moments together and mad that he didn't plan better and realize the consequences in his actions. I have given him a hard enough time, so I will stop now. I know he purposely didn't do this to our family and he is trying hard to better our family. I am thankful for that and I do love him, even if I haven't shown it very well these past few days. : ) Post and Carry on with the rest of your day.

9 Months Old!!!

I cannot believe my little Ashton Kole Evans is already 9 months old!!!  He is getting so big, so fast.  I know everyone says that but it really is true.  I really cannot imagine life without him but I do know I must had a lot more time and had to have a lot more energy.  This little daredevil keeps me on my toes 24/7!  He is constantly pulling up on something and scaring me!  We have large tile floor that I know will hurt him someway or another.  He has had a few close calls with falling, but nothing that has seriously injured him. . . yet!  Ashton absolutely loves his brother and more importantly his brother's toys the most.  Anything that involves being with Caden is his mission.  He is not too happy that our house is full of baby gates that are blocking him from Caden's playroom and the stairs.  The little stinker can climb the stairs faster than I can run to him.  He really loves to eat too.  He has discovered mommy's food plate and he believes that it is his food.  He will eat anything I give him, including lemons and pickles.  I am so glad that he isn't picky right now, but his brother was the same way at one point.  He also loves drinks.  He will find a way to get any drink or food item from you.  And he may have recently discovered sweet tea. . .  : )  He is a true southern boy!  I believe he is about 20 lbs and is in 9 month clothes.  He is wearing some 12 month clothes because I got anxious in getting out more winter clothes in my stockpile of Caden's.  He loves to say Dada but does not care to even attempt to try Mama!  : (  Every time he says Dada, Nick always says "I'm right here buddy."  This makes me extremely happy.  He walks around any piece of furniture there is and scales the walls to get places, but has not yet attempted to try walking on his own.  He hates to wear socks and shoes, so I look like parent of the year in the somewhat "Cold Florida Weather."  Ashton has three teeth and had an ear infection with every one coming in.  He still loves to throw fits when he wants something and can't have it.  He is going to be trouble in the toddler years.  I am trying to just give everyone a little taste of everything Ashton is doing and what he is like, so this has turned out to be quite random, but I think you can understand.  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day.  

Our Christmas!!!

 Santa came!!  I want go to much into this day, because I think the pictures speak for themselves.  But the boys both got a lot of cool presents and I think they were both very happy.  Everything on their lists plus some, was under the tree, which makes me happy.  I am glad through careful planning and budgeting I was able to make the boys Christmas special.  It took all morning between unwrapping and playing to get through the presents.  It was so great being there as a family, since I cannot guarantee we will have this next year.  My parents 

came downstairs and enjoyed Christmas morning with us while they put all the toys together.  As you can see, there really were

a lot of presents, more than I even thought there would be. . . The first thing Caden said when we told him Santa came was "Is he 

still here??"  He didn't really get it but was excited the cookies were eaten!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!

Our Christmas Eve!!!

We decided a long time ago that we would celebrate Christmas early for many reasons.  First, we plan on being in Texas for Christmas and I am not about to pack up presents and bring them back to FL when we will have enough other stuff to bring.  Second, I want Nick to enjoy as much time as possible with the boys and their new stuff.  Last, the boys have no concept of time.  So we picked this weekend since we had no plans and gave us plenty of time to enjoy Christmas together.  Tonight we went looking for free but awesome Christmas lights.  We drove out to our old area and found a small farm that delivered.  You could drive through this pretty awesome place for free and we were the only ones there!  Caden loved it so much so of course I had

 to get out and make him take a picture!  As you can see the last cotton ball was taken off of our count down so Santa is coming tonight!  : )  My parents started a tradition many years ago where Christmas Eve you open new PJ's so you look nice for the next morning.  I love this and of course have to carry this on for my kids.  I think Caden was hoping for more and Ashton was beyond tired.  But we still all got our new PJ's before the night was over.  I am still mad at myself for not taking a family picture of us but I did manage to get one of Nick and I, which I love!  We also had to set out Santa's cookies.  Caden was so excited about this part.  We made

 the cookies earlier and Caden was beyond thrilled.  He doesn't get it fully, but he is really starting to understand it all and next year will definitely be really fun with him.  Caden stayed up super late and I had to take over responsibility because as you can see someone could not stay up late

 enough and wait for Santa!  : )  I love him so much and I am so EXCITED for tomorrow morning!!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day! 

Mini Van Mommy!

After Nick had his wreck and dealt with the insurance, they said to bring the Altima into the repair shop the following morning.  I was just beyond pleased that Nick was in the wreck and then I had to deal with the consequences.  : )  I had to be at the shop about 35 minutes away at 8:30 in the morning yesterday.  I was not happy about this since I had both boys as well and Caden's school starts at 9:00.  But nonetheless I got us ready super early with all of our needed paperwork and school stuff and made the drive in the cold, rain.  When I got there, the repair guy, the insurance guy, and the rental car guy were all waiting outside for me.  I was in and out of the office in five minutes!  I could not believe it!  They were all so nice and the best part was the other person's insurance allowed us to have a free rental car.  We requested a four door car and they provided us with a brand new Chrysler Mini Van!  A few years ago I would have been disgusted by this, but today is very different.  I was so happy and excited.  We had seven seats and all the room you could imagine.  I was wishing we had a road trip to go on but no such luck.  There was a back up camera and three DVD players!!  I have loved driving this car around the past few days and will be sad when we have to return it.  I really wish we could afford a mini van right now but that won't be able to happen for awhile.  Having a third row of seats would be nice when people come to visit us, we wouldn't have to take two cars.  The only bad part about dropping the car off was having to switch two car seats with two kids from the two cars.  But I managed and was quite proud of myself!  If you see a brand new mini van driving around town, watch out, I am having way too much fun!!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!    

Live Nativity!

Today Caden's cute little class had a Live Nativity that we could go up and take pictures of.  Of course, I jumped on the opportunity to go up to his school.  I love to see what he does and I really try to stay involved.  All of his little classmates were dressed up so cute.  Caden started out

being one of the Wise Men.  He had a treasure box so he called him the Treasure Man. Then a couple of the kids wanted to be someone new so Caden then got to be Joseph.  His teacher told him he was the daddy and he had to take care of the baby.  Caden heard this and went on a

 mission to take care of the baby as good as he could.  He was so cute rocking and holding the baby.  He held on to it for the rest of the time, he is so nurturing.  We were just up at school for a few minutes but I am glad we went.  On a side note this was my first opportunity to use my new camera for

 a needed purpose.  I don't know if you can tell, but I sure can tell a world of difference.  Every one is so crisp and clear.  Even this many kids in action, there were no blurry photos.  I love my camera!!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!  

My Worst Fear!

I am very much an anxious person.  I have a tendency to think the worst and always preparing myself for bad news.  Well I generally know when Nick will be calling me and freak out when he calls me at times that I think he should not be calling me.  This holds especially true for times that I know he should be driving.  If he calls me on his commute I immediately think he has been in a wreck.  I don't know why I do this, but I cannot help it.  When he does call me in the morning, which is rare, it usually is to tell me something he forgot to do.  But this morning was different.  He called to tell me he was in a wreck, truly one of my worst fears.  Luckily, it was not a bad wreck and even more lucky it was not his fault.  He was stopped at a light, waiting to turn right and someone bumped into him.  I am so glad it did not push him into the very busy oncoming traffic and do more damage.  He called me to tell me what had happened and he got all of the information.  I said to make sure that it is obvious it was her fault or call the police.  I was worried the rest of the day because of my fear coming true.  I was scared he had downplayed the wreck because he knew my fears.  When he got home he was pretty sore and his shoulder hurt, so of course the nice wife I am gave him a back massage.  The car's bumper had just come disconnected by the tire, it really wasn't that bad.  But I am no mechanic and they always seem to find something wrong.  Nick spent half of the day on the phone with insurance and repair people, which I wasn't too happy about.  The Altima came with free oil changes and its first one was scheduled for Thursday, so we had to cancel that.  Our poor brand new car doesn't even have a stain from the kids and it has already gotten in a wreck.  It is only three months old.  Sometime I wonder if it wasn't for bad luck we would have no luck at all!  I am very thankful that Nick is alright, I just wish now that I would not be so anxious about wrecks, but I think I now will be even worse.  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day.    

My Camera!

Every year my parents go all out on us on Christmas, and this year was no exception.  There are many things that I always say we need, but this year I decided that I wanted to get something for the pure joy of it.  For several years I have wanted a really nice camera.  I have always liked Canon cameras and have had all of their point and shoot models.  I love them all but ready for the next step.  I have done extensive research and decided that I wanted the Rebel T3!  It looked easy to use but still had functions that could be for the more advanced.  With the boys especially I have noticed that a better camera is a must.  I am not satisfied with most of my pictures because I have turned into quite the camera snob.  I hope to one day be able to take professional like pictures of the boys so I don't have to pay other people outrageous amounts of money when I know what I like and want.  I have probably asked many of you what kind of camera you have and have taken note of that.  I can tell even on Facebook or other blogs who has a good camera and who doesn't.  I hope to someday have someone ask me what camera I have, because my pictures are so crisp and clear.  My camera came in the mail today and my mom said that I could open it and learn how to use it before Christmas.  I jumped on the opportunity and have been studying the manual all day and practicing.  I can already tell a huge difference and cannot wait to test it out on the boys.  Nick is already sick of me taking pictures but he usually is, so it doesn't bother me! : )  I love how fast the shutter speed is and how cool the zoom lens and focusing options are.  I am so happy and excited about this present, thank you mom and dad!!!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day! 

Discovering Church!

Today was a day all about Church.  We spent over seven hours there today.  We started out with Church and our Lifegroup (Sunday School).  We came home and had lunch and let the boys nap.  We then left again for a four hour class about the church.  It is a requirement in order to join the church so I wanted to finish it before Nick left and I had to take it by myself.  It was actually very informative and we enjoyed it.  It was led by the pastor, who is quite funny.  Nick and I were laughing almost the whole time.  I am really glad our friends encouraged us to go to this church.  I had started to give up that I could find something here that I felt suit me.  I really love our Lifegroup class, the Pastor, the Nursery, the people, and what it has to offer.  I think this all came into my life at the perfect timing.  I now have this extra resource to lean on when I need it the most with Nick leaving.  I am so happy to feel welcome here.  The only negative I learned (which I secretly already knew) was about joining the church.  Baptist believe you cannot join a church unless you have been baptized in full immersion.  When I was thirteen, I was baptized in a Methodist Church, and they sprinkled water on my head.  This would not cut it for my new church so I have to get re-baptized.  This is one thing that I do not really agree with.  I feel as though if I believe I have been baptized that it should not hinder me in joining a church.  I am still trying to find my religion and discover what I really believe.  Nick and I have tried out several different denominations and this has been the first one that we both felt comfortable in.  I went to one church that preached for two hours on how the wife should be submissive to her husband and cannot speak in public about religion rather in private ask her husband for the answers.  We got up and left that service. . . I am really in an exploration phase in my religious journey.  I worked in a church from the time I was thirteen so I missed out on Church and Sunday School growing up.  I feel as though I am behind now.  I need to figure out where I am at and what I want.  I want the boys to grow up in a religious home and have their church as an outlet for them growing up to help deter them from the bad.  Anyways, I think the thing I hate most about having to get re-baptized is doing it in front of everyone.  I am going to be 27 years old with children getting baptized.  I actually don't know if anyone will be with me or not, but still.  I hate public speaking and I feel like this is the most public thing of all.  I would much rather go in by myself than on Sunday morning church in front of hundreds.  I can work myself up into a panic attack just thinking about it.  I know that is stupid and selfish but I do not want to go up in front of everyone.  I don't know how I am suppose to go to church and be soaking wet then go to Lifegroup.  I know these are all stupid thoughts, but I need answers.  I am getting baptized into the Baptist Church on the 18th.  I do know that my very religious Nanny could not be more proud and will be in heaven looking down at me with the biggest smile.  That does make me happy.  Hopefully between now and then, I can get some insight and answers.  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day.     

Four's A Crowd!

Today I finished wrapping all the Christmas presents.  So far we have only bought for the boys because we are having to strategically buy things.  We are celebrating Christmas on the tenth so I needed that stuff first.  All of the rest of the family I can wait on so we haven't really bought anything else.  I had wrapped some gifts but with every shopping trip, more is added to the wrapping pile.  So I sat down and finished it today and then of course had to make it look pretty.  I took a picture because I know after Caden scopes them out, Ashton crawls over and destroys anything he can reach, and the cats play in it, the presents won't look this pretty again!  I had a shopping list and about a million different strategic price guides and lists, so I really didn't venture too far from the plan.  We were going to have a little Christmas, but after wrapping it doesn't seem we followed that plan.  We really bought a lot of little things and I wrapped a lot of stuff individually, but this is still what we came up with!!  It looks like a very good Christmas for the boys and I can't wait to watch them!! 
Today was the day we were watching the Loud boys in return for when they watched our boys around my birthday.  They were celebrating Sarah's birthday at The Melting Pot, a place I would like to take Nick someday.  I knew that tonight would be loud (no pun intended) but we could manage.  After all my years in childcare and then the family I nanny for now has four kids, I figured I could manage.  Nick on the other hand only has experience with his two boys, so he was in for a shock.  We started off with dinner with the older boys, which I thought was going smoothly.  Nick ate with them while I was entertaining the two babies.  Not even an hour together and Nick was already saying he was done having kids.  For those of you who do not know, I want a third child so bad.  Something about me does not feel complete at all.  I have always wanted a big family and if money wasn't an issue, then I probably would have more than three!  But three is a number that long ago I convinced Nick was a must, and he reluctantly agreed.  Now after an hour with four he was already taking back his promises.  I insisted it would be different with us because we would never have them this close in age, we would never have two babies (I just jinxed myself!) or two four(ish) year olds!  I don't think he bought my reasoning but I have time to convince him again.  The night really wasn't that bad.  The older boys have a love/hate relationship that calls for a mediator but they had fun together.  Their baby is easy, Ashton you have to stay on top of because he is in to everything.  At one time both babies were asleep until the boys started yelling and woke them both back up.  Neyland never went back to sleep, I think he got scared when he realized it wasn't his bed.  But he did cuddle with me and give me lots of laughs and smiles.  He is one of those babies who's whole face just lights up when he smiles and then it is contagious, you have to smile and laugh back.  Baylor and Caden played hard and eventually settled down, they may even have went to sleep, if Sarah and Matt hadn't gotten back so early.  Looking back it was not that crazy of a night, definitely would have to think hard about a fourth, but I know that my kids would be spaced apart better.  But that third is definitely happening!  I must have been busy tonight because I didn't get any pictures, and that is very rare for me!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!    

Late Night Shopping!

Today was a day of vegging out.  I felt like I had been on the go with so much lately that I just needed chill time.  My house also needed some attention.  So the boys played in their comfy clothes while I tried to straighten up and more importantly tackle the never ending laundry pile.  I will do laundry in cycles, I do it all in one day and then think how happy I am that it is all done.  Then just a few days later it seems it is overwhelming again.  I really wish I could stay on top of it.  I really want to start doing one random load a day to control it instead of waiting till the specific pile if full like I usually do.  Anyways, after going non stop with Christmas, errands, and doctor appointments, my boys and I needed today.  The only problem was we needed groceries.  We had been scraping random meals together for days and now we had nothing.  I don't normally let it get this bad but I was just dreading going to the grocery store.  By the time Nick got home I was still putting it off so we decided to go after the boys went to sleep, we would have my parents listen for them.  (My house is really weird, it is like a duplex almost, 2 full houses on top of each other.  We have inside and outside stairs to get to each other, I have my own kitchen, storage everything.  I think our house is close to 3000 sq ft and my mom's is even more than that.  Like I said it is a really weird house!)  So we can turn the baby monitors on upstairs and they can listen for them, but they generally just sleep the whole time anyways.  Well tonight by 8:30 (2 hours past Ashton's bedtime and an hour past Caden's) they were both awake so my parents took them for us so we could leave.  I think they ended up falling asleep shortly there after.  So off to a late night Wal Mart shopping trip.  We had a really good time because we were alone, and that doesn't happen EVER!!!!  It was nice to shop in peace and take our time.  We ended up walking up and down just about every aisle just because we could.  I cried two different times in the store thinking about how sad I was that Nick was leaving.  How this was my second to last time getting his help with the groceries. . . let the tears begin again!  I am getting so sad and these stupid little things to some people I now am soaking up every second of.  People don't understand that just because I am not going with him, it is not the reason that we won't see each other.  With Nick being back on sea duty, he will be doing just that, being out to sea.  Whether he is on 6-10 month deployments, or 2 week mini cruises, he will be gone.  Since we have known he is going to the Reagan, they have been home days, maybe just a couple of weeks combined, they are gone ALL of the time.  That is the reason I am not following Nick because even if we live in the same place he will still be gone.  I do not want to move to  a new place to stay by myself.  I am not ready for that yet, I need to first know what will be going on and where we will be living before I can blindly follow.  I have to think about how things will affect the boys now.  Anyways, I just had to explain that I am making the right choice whether you agree with me or not, and realize that I am trying my best.  Our late night shopping trip ended up taking close to two hours with the two week supply of groceries and some Christmas presents, we can now eat again!  It was a great trip and I do love my husband!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!     

Santa Video!

A friend on Facebook liked this website and claimed how cool it was.  So today I went and checked it out and it was by far the coolest thing ever.  It is a FREE website that allows you to input all sorts of information and then it makes a real video of Santa talking to your child.  The one I made talks about where Caden lives, says Caden, shows three different pictures of him, says what he wants for Christmas, to not throw fits and that he has been a good boy.  You can enter so many different things in and it will make it.  His beard is covering his mouth so you can't see him talk, so I guess that is how they get away with it.  But he pauses and says Caden really loud and every time he does, Caden laughs so hard.  He thinks it is so cool that Santa knows his name.  Thinking back on it I now wish I would have recorded Caden watching it for the first time, he loved it.  He has watched it several times since then.  You can change naughty or nice and what they should be doing, I am thinking I should make several movies and play the one that is appropriate for the time.  There is one about sucking thumbs, I think I should start playing that every day!  I still cannot believe something so cool is free, you don't see that very often.  I wish I could show it to you, but won't let you save it, it can only be viewed through my email.  If you need a way to get your child to behave and always threaten Santa is watching, then this is the place for you.  It is called the Portable North Pole.  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!   

Santa Pictures!

Every year (you know all three of them) that Christmas rolls around we head up to the mall to take Santa pictures.  One year I went to several malls to get the best Santa.  Another year I tried Bass Pro Shop, but it was just a little to Camo-y for my liking.  Well the Santa here in Florida is not bad but the photographers usually don't know how to get the kids attention nor do they know how to take good pictures.  You get one pose generally and have to pay way too much for that.  Well back when I did Ashton's 6 month pictures at JCPennys, they told me Santa comes there.  I was really excited because I knew they would do a better job and with their a la carte plus military discount pricing, I can get sheets for $4!!!  You just can't beat that!  So after taking forever to find outfits, today was finally the day.  After Caden went to school and both boys took way too short of a nap, I had to go force them to be happy.  Caden started the car ride in a horrible mood but luckily one sight of Santa changed his spirits.  Nick, luckily, got off of work in time to meet us right when we were going back to take our first pictures.  They were pretty busy and had appointments on top of each other.  But Caden turned on the charm and fired away with cute poses.  Ashton didn't cry but he didn't really smile.  I really need to train him that I love pictures and smiley ones at that.  They took so many pictures, some cute some really stupidly posed.  But overall I was really happy with them and glad I made this choice.  The best part of all is that I got 4 sheets for $16!!  That is really good and wasn't supposed to happen apparently.  Military discount didn't apply today but they already had rung me up before their boss could yell at them.  Score for something going right for me!!  The pictures don't come in till the ninth so you will just have to wait till then.  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!  

Countdown to Santa!

Today Santa wrote a letter back in response to the boys' letter.  I know they have a fast turn around at the North Pole!  I thought to keep it fresh in Caden's mind, waiting a day was a stretch!  So when Caden woke up from his nap today we went and checked the mail.  Our letter was gone and there

was one in its place.  Of course I have to keep their letter to show them when they are older, I just hope I can keep it hidden for years!  I wrote this letter saying they should be good boys and he will bring them their presents.  Caden was so excited.  I love how excited he is about Christmas.  I guess that is why

I keep coming up with stuff for them to do because he is so excited about it.  We had to read the letter several times, I am sure he could tell you what it says too.  At the end I made sure to emphasize how much Santa loves cookies, so Caden will be excited to make them.  And he wants to make them now, so Santa will come now!  I thought that was cute and led me to my next project.  I decided to make an Advent Calendar with a twist.  I had seen one online of a Santa picture where you add cotton balls till its full and then it is Christmas.  But I thought Caden would do better with the total number of days left and take a cotton ball away

 for every day.  It made more sense to me too.  So I reversed the one I saw and changed up the poem that went with it.  So parts are stolen but the majority of it is my cleverness.  I was pretty proud of myself.  I pretty much used everything around the house but the cotton balls I had to buy, can you believe it?  I only have the round disc cotton things so I had to go buy the cotton balls.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  Caden loves pulling the cotton balls off and gets so excited.  Anytime he talks about Santa he has to go count the number of cotton balls, even if he just did it five minutes before.  He is so cute, he thinks if he does more than one a day then he will come sooner!  Post and Carry on with the rest of your day!