Way Behind.

I have been way off my blogging game. To be honest we have been enjoying Hawaii so much, we haven't had time to blog.

Mike and Melinda came to visit and we had a wonderful time. It was so nice to have family here. I think we wore them out. We went to Maui and did all the touristy stuff here which was so much fun. I cant thank them enough for coming out to see us. 

Halloween came and went and Ava was Bat Girl. She was a very cute Bat Girl if I do say so myself. She has a great time trick or treating. She kept asking days later if it could be Halloween again. 

Chase and I went to the Marine Corps Ball. We had so much fun. I am so fortunate to be able to experience something so moving. It really makes you proud to say you are an American and part of the Marine Corps Family. It was a lovely evening at the Hilton Hawaiian Village downtown.

Chase finished Ava's dollhouse. Seriously he has been working on it since before she born. It has moved with us 3 times. She loves it. Chase did an amazing job and it is beautiful. Hopefully Ava will pass it down to her girls someday. 

The most exciting thing is that Chase got selected for MECEP. We are so excited. He worked so hard for this and I am so proud. He will be attending OCS in January and then we will move to Jacksonville FL for him to finish school. Hopefully he gets a flight contract and can fly when he is done. Ava and I are leaving in December and wont be coming back to Hawaii. I am very sad about leaving this amazing place but I know it is best for our family and for Chases carreer. He promises we will come back.  

That was a quick update of everything. I am going to try and do better this last month we are here!! 

Loving this

new passion my husband has for surfing. It is awesome. Every day after work he puts avas bathing suit on, throws some towels in the car and we head to the beach....EVERY DAY! I love it. We have been only staying about an hour but it is such a relaxing part to my day. Ava plays in the sand and we both chill under the umbrella. He is getting pretty good at surfing and we don't mind putting in the time to help him get better :)

Our Little Artist

I try really hard to keep ava busy during the day doing creative things. As she gets older, its fun to try different things. This week we have been painting. She has always painted : finger paints, water colors.... We used a 40% off coupon at our local craft store to buy a pretty big canvas. I wanted it to be bigger, but Chase vetoed that idea, canvases can be pretty pricey. We started day one with purple pink and blue paint. I tried to pick paints that if mixed together they wouldnt create a brown "mess"

The next morning, Ava asked to paint first thing. We started painting Green and let that dry for an hour then came back after breakfast to paint orange. She painted until all the orange paint was gone and asked for more and i gave her a few shades of blue since she had covered all that up. Most of the blue ended up on her. We only have a few rules while painting and not getting it all over her is not one of them. She ended up looking like a very messy smurf. 

I think we painted purple and pink the next day and then today we finished with yellow and orange. She was painting and all of the sudden said... "its all done, what do you think?" and that was that.

We are going to hang it in my craft room for now. Next time she wants to paint I plan on painting over it with white paint and letting her start over. I love how she has so much freedom to do whatever she wants to do. I really can tell when she is serious in to it and has a vision. She is so focused and knows exactly what she is trying to do. She says painting makes her so happy, makes me happy too! 

A Little Surfer Babe

Ava went surfing for the first time ever in Waikiki yesterday. She was all set with her life jacket and her rash guard.  I will say I was a little nervous, but she is a natural. She loved it! Her favorite was jumping off of course. For some reason I left my camera at home so all we have are these crappy not so good camera phone pictures.

I was so proud of her, but her daddy, he was glowing. We treated her to subway and ice cream afterwards. It may have been the sitting out side on the beach,  but it was the best sandwich and ice cream i have ever had. Maybe I was just starving.

While You Were Out & Thanks

Daddy comes home in just 2 short days! We cant wait! Ava is so excited to show him all the things she can do now. So here is a little re-cap of what Ava has started to do since Daddy left. He is really coming back to a different child! I cant wait to see how the two of the react to each other. 

Ava can : 

Eat with a spoon and fork very well 

Go to sleep without a paci 

Drink out of a regular cup with no lid

Count to 10

Pick out all her colors and body parts

Draw a circle and an x

Jump with both feet off the floor

Swim underwater 

Hit a baseball off a tee

Use the potty like a big girl 

Dress herself 

Im sure there is much much more that she is doing now that she couldn't when Chase left. Be looking for homecoming pictures in a few days! 

Thanks to everyone who helped Ava and I get through this deployment. I couldn't have done it without my wonderful friends and amazing family. Also, thanks for sending chase your love and prayers while he was gone. We couldn't thank you all enough! We love you all and can never repay you for all you have done for all three of us! 

Memorial Day

A holiday that is very close to my heart. Maybe being a Marine wife makes you more patriotic, but I cant imagine who I would owe more thanks to than the men and women of our military. Today makes me so thankful for all that we have because we live in this country. It makes me happy to be an American. I am forever grateful to these brave and honorable people. 

 We are so proud of Our Hero! Sometimes his job may take him far away from us, but we are so blessed to be able to share moments like this with someone so heroic! 

 Thank you for doing what you do Chase and making a sacrifice that only you will ever understand. 

 And a thank you to those who gave all so we can live in this wonderful country. From the bottom of my heart, you will never be forgotten! 

Happy Memorial Day! 

Almost Finished

We are at the end of this deployment, FINALLY! It has been a long long long seven months and I am glad it is coming to an end. We leave to go back to Hawaii in just a week. I am filled with emotions. I am beyond excited to have my little family back together, for Chase to be home safe and sound, and to get back to my things. I am a little sad to be leaving. I love this place - its home! I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be surrounded with love and support through this time. I know I could do it alone, but I am so happy I dont have to!

We are busy making homecoming banners, picking out dresses to wear, and counting down the days until he arrives. Ava tells everyone we are going on an airplane to get her Daddy. She is very excited!

This was our last picture together as a family almost 7 months ago.

We are just waiting for him to hurry home and be safe and sound in our little spot in paradise. 

We cant wait for you to be home Daddy. Be safe this last week. We will see you so so so SOOOOOON!!!!!! 

Happy Mother's Day!!

I am so thankful that I am the mom to a sweet little girl. Being a mom is a hard job, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the whole wide world! Ava is so amazing and it is such a blessing to watch her grow. 

Thanks for making me a mom sweet little babe! I love you more than anything in the whole world!! 

Happy Easter

Orange Pickin'

My little girl loves oranges, and I love the way she says "orange". Today we stopped by an orange grove to pick a few to take home with us. I am in love with this fun little activity and want to pick my own oranges every time we run out instead of buying them at the store. 

 They are very hard to pull off the trees. She tried her hardest though, and when she was successful, she was so proud! 

 She was so focused and only tried to bite into one while we were out there. I admire her for her self control because they smelled so yummy! 

 Oranges are really good for your body, picking them just does something for your soul. 

 I love her pony tail.

 and the dimples in her elbows. 

 

 "orange" you glad she is so yummy! 

 Sorry, what's a post about orange pickin' without that? 

Happy Birthday My Baby Girl!

Today you turned two. I remember the day you were born. 

Your dad and I were not really sure what to do with you, and to be honest, we still aren't!

You are such and amazing girl. You are so smart and I love watching you learn new things every day. I love that you wake up in the morning so happy and I love that you always give me hugs at just the right time. You are so independent and you are growing up to be such a wonderful little girl. I am extremely proud of you and everything you have accomplished in such a short two years. I cant wait to continue to watch you grow up to become and beautiful and smart young woman. Me and your daddy love you so much.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea! 

Cookies and Milk

FOR A PRINCESS! 

We had a great time! The kids played outside 

Ohh and don't forget the Cookies 

She blew out her candles! 

I think she has a great time!

Happy Birthday My Princess! 

Accomplishments

It amazes me how much a child can accomplish in such a short amount of time. Little Ava has only lived for a short two years (on monday) but I cant believe how much she has done already. I know in the long run, things like walking and blowing kisses aren't really known as big ta-da's, but from a moms point of view, I am so proud of everything she has done. Some of our loved ones don't get to spend tons of time with Ava, Daddy included right now, so I thought I would just do a little post on everything she is up to....it's a lot so just bare with me and skip over any parts that may be boring to you! :)

The biggest thing Ava has done this past year is move across the country with us. She is a great traveler! Since she has been born she has moved like 4 times and been on a good 9 flights. She adapted very well. She loves the ocean and playing in the sand.

She is amazingly good at feeding herself with a spoon and fork now. I cant believe how much control she has gained in the last year. Makes for a lot less messes at meal times!

She has been to a ton of really cool places this year. We took her to her first fair. Her favorite part was not the rides or the games but the roasted corn! She has been to the Dole Pineapple Plantation, All the famous surf spots on the North Shore, The Georgia Aquarium, The Jacksonville Zoo, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Panama City Beach, and lots of other exciting places. We hope to take her to Disney World when Daddy gets home!

She has totally forgotten about her PACI!! I know, it shocks me too. I seriously thought she would be the one child that went to kindergarden with it! She was so big through the whole thing, and really kind of gave it up on her own. It was sort of sad for me :(

Right now we are potty training. She has done remarkable. She still has some accidents every once in a while but we have been diaper free for quite a while and I am so happy and so is she. You can tell she is very proud of herself. She loves to pick out her panties every morning and always reminds me when she has kept the same ones on all day!

Just a little list of things she can do now :
* Climb on anything!
* Unlock my phone and get to the camera to take pictures
* Dress herself. Shirt, Panties, Pants, Socks, and Shoes.
* Sing lots of songs
* Open the refrigerator
* Lay down in the bath tub to wash her hair
* Brush her own teeth and hair
* Point out a few letters in the alphabet
* Knows a few colors
* What red lights and green lights mean
* Count with you


We are very proud of her and all that she is doing. She loves to learn new things and I cant wait to continue to watch her grow. I cant believe she is almost 2. My baby girl is growing up!

You don't have days like this in Hawaii

ok, ok, Im trying to make myself feel better there. But days like today make me so happy, actually the whole weekend was amazing. In hawaii every day is warm and beautiful. We left there to come home to freezing weather!! Seriously I was freezing. It was in the mid 70's and sunny all weekend. I was so grateful, Ava and I really needed to play outside! After so much cold weather we really appreciated it! Now in 3 more months it will be 100 degrees and so humid that you cant breath and we will all be wishing it was cold again. Thats the sound for ya! With the warm weather comes planting watermelons! Today my Dad got on the tractor for the first time this year. I could tell he was excited, and so was Ava.

She loved playing around while Papa worked! This girl is going to be in Heaven this summer, there is no doubt about that. Now don't get me wrong, living just a short walk from the beach is amazing, but there is something about those amazing days right before winter leaves and summer comes in at home! We may pretend like we are Island Girls, but deep down, we are really just two Georgia Peaches! 

just because

because I miss him!
We miss him!
We wish he could be here with us!
But we know what he is doing is so important!
And we are very thankful!
And proud!
But we do miss him!
I miss his smile!
His laugh!
His dirty Cami's
And even his kisses
Ava said she misses his cookies!
It's the little things,
Even for her!

It's hard not to miss a guy like this!

dont look to hard...he is taken already! 

ohh we miss you babe! 

love, your girls 

New Years Resolution

I have been thinking a lot about these.

I of course have the normal be a better mom and wife but I dont feel like thats something you accomplish and check off your list. I would love to be a more organized person and write my plans down so I'm not so scatter brained all the time. It is not really fair to forget to wash Chase's cammis on the weekend or be an hour late for lunch because we were busy cleaning.

I have some resolutions I would like to just do for me though:

This baby weight has GOT TO GO!! Can you even call it baby weight still when your "baby" is about to turn 2? Whatever you want to call it, it's outta here! I go to bed at night wishing I would have been healthier that day or exercised. I just want to get back down to my pre-preggo weight. I have accepted the fact that I may never fit back in my tiny skinny jeans and thats ok. I just want to be healthy and fit!

My second resolution for me is to learn to shoot in manual mode of my camera. I have had my SLR for over a year now and I would really love to improve my pictures. Automatic mode is fantastic, but I want more out of my camera! I do have a really great subject to photograph.

My third and final resolution is to take some time for me. I try to do that ( some times ) but I should make it a point. I guess taking a shower alone doesnt count, not that I do that often. I would like to spend some more time sewing and learning new things.

So this is pretty much just a post so that I have to be accountable for what I have set for my resolutions - you know since they are on the blogosphere for all to see. I am a little late starting all of these but hopefully I can accomplish them all by the end of the year.

What are your resolutions??

Happy New Year!

I know we are a little late but HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I cant think of anything else I would love to start the year off with than what I have!

(except a pair of Christian Louboutin Black Heels with the signature red bottom)

This year has busy for us. Here is little recap ::

Ava turned one at the begining of the year! I cant believe how fast time has gone by. She is getting so big!!

In April, we packed up our entier lives and moved to a big rock in the middle of the Pacific. You may have heard of it, Hawaii (also known as Paradise)

In July, Chase and I celebrated our 3rd Wedding anniversary. I can't believe we have been married for 3 years.

We had a few visitors come see us. We love for people to come visit and I hope more people come once Chase comes home!!

Halloween was a fun holiday this year. Ava went as a puppy dog. Her favorite animal as of then. We had lots of fun but it was strange that it was that warm!!

Chase got promoted to Sgt. in November. I pinned his new rank on while Ava watched in the background.

Right before Thanksgiving, we said "see you later" to Chase. He is currently serving in Afghanistan with 2/3 on his 3rd combat deployment.

We missed Chase this Christmas, but we are so proud of him. He watched Ava open all her Christmas presents and that made us all very happy :)

We are very excited to ring in the new year. 2011 will bring Chase home and us all back to warm weather Hawaii. Please keep Chase in your prayers and he is protecting all of us!