1 Whole Year

(2 days old / 2 weeks old)

I can't belive 1 whole year has gone by so fast! Last Thursday, March 25th, we celebrated Seth's first birthday. (Well, he turned 1 anyway - we celebrated on Saturday when Matt was home to celebrate it with us.)

Seth has been so fun. He's an amazing sleeper. At about 6 weeks old he started sleeping through the night all on his own. He is such a smiley little boy. He loves when he gets attention from his big brother and sister - and they have been amazing with him. He's got the same amazing blue eyes that his dad and Luke have. He's my blondest child. We'll see how crazy light it gets this summer in the sun. He is a complete momma's boy. Follows me everywhere and cries if I walk past him or out of the room for even a second. Sometimes it is tiring, but I love all the love. He's crawling and cruising, but he just doesn't seem to care about walking yet. That may be another month or two.

With each of my kids, they get their own little cake to eat/destroy for their first birthday. Maya and Luke had to warm up to the cakes and didn't really want to touch them and get messy. They both eventually did, but it took some convincing. Seth is our eater. He was not afraid to try his cake. Here's some pictures and a video of his strategy.

After

Happy Birthday, Seth! We are so glad to have you in our family. Love you!

His Father's Son

As soon as any light starts shining, the pillow ends up on the head to block it out. I can't stand a pillow on my head - he doesn't get it from me.

Luke is so like his dad.

Don't want to forget

Some of the things that come out of Luke's mouth just cracks us up. (Sometimes it cracks us up after having time to get over being frustrated with him)

Anywho, yesterday all three of my guys got haircuts. Matt cut Luke's hair. We use clippers. My little boys are not a fan of the clippers and all the vibration. Luke finally has stopped fighting and screaming and wiggling when we cut his hair.

Matt was using the clippers on the side of Luke's head when Luke said, "Dad, you're making me feel my brain."

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When Luke takes a nap, bedtime becomes a nightmare. He just won't go to bed. Yesterday was one of these days. We'd already sent him up to bed a handfull of times. We even took his blanket he likes to snuggle with away from him. In the past we've given it back to him once he was sound asleep. So last night after sneaking down again begging for his blanket we send him back up. On his way up the stairs he says/yells, "Give me my blanket when I'm asleep ok mom?!"

Two minutes later he's upstairs yelling down, "MOM! I'M ASLEEP! BRING ME MY BLANKET!"

He repeats this several times. I finally call up to him, "Sleeping people don't talk!"

Corpus Christi

Matt had to do a pediatric anesthesia rotation (which he loved) in Corpus Christi from mid-Feb to mid-March. So the kids and I took the opportunity to go check out Corpus Christi and we loved it. We had such a fun time and packed a whole lot into one Saturday.

First things first, when we woke up Saturday morning, before going to breakfast, we (the kids) just had to get out to the beach (which we could see from Matt's apartment window) and find some seashells. It was a pretty windy/chilly morning, so we didn't have to wait too long before the kids were ready to eat.

(Luke was very excited to see the ocean)

After breakfast we headed to the aquarium. Below is a picture of the USS Lexington which is right next to th eaquarium.

We had so much fun at the aquarium. There were lots of hands on things for the kids to see and do.
They got to hold sea urchins.

And we all got to pet some sting rays. They're pretty slimy little things but lots of fun.

(Matt and the kids at the aquarium)

They also had a dolphin exhibit. Up above the seats to see the dolphins were pretty crowded. So we went to the underwater viewing area which was pretty much empty, but I think the view of the dolphins was way better.
(Maya and Seth watching the dolphins)

The also had an eagle/hawk show, but we missed it. We did take the chance to stop and compare our "wingspan" to all the different birds.

(Luke doing his impression of a bird)

(Like father like son, right?)

Some family pictures before we left the aquarium. Luke is in the picture. It's like "I spy". You gotta find him.

After the aquarium, we went and saw "Percy Jackson" at the movies. It was a fun movie - deviated from the book of course, but still fun. Maybe a bit much for the kids. After that, we headed out to Padre Island and played on the beach. It had warmed up quite a bit from that morning so we were able to last a little longer. Here are some pics of us goofing off on the beach.

(Seth was at a stage where he thought his tongue was lots of fun)

(We all had to get our silly faces in there)

All in all it was a great time. Luke wants to move to Corpus. Instead we're heading to the west coast and a whole new ocean and set of beaches.

Can you see me now?

It's been a crazy couple of weeks with finding out about our move this summer and putting our house on the market and the regular old hecticness of life. Other things have happened and I want to make sure to take note of them because they are important to us.

On the same day we found out about our new assignment to Travis, Maya got her first pair of glasses. We think she looks pretty darn cute. How bout you?

We're goin', we're goin', we're goin' back to. . .

CALI!!

(Remember that song?)

We found out this morning where the Air Force is sending us next. It was a crazy morning. My friend texted me this morning before picking up kids for school asking if we knew where we were going because another resident had found out last night. So I start getting all jittery and anxious. Can it be true?? Will we already know? Do I want to know? Very mixed feelings on this whole thing. So I immediately text and page Matt who is out of town and on call at the hospital he is working at today. So I know it will be hard to get a hold of him. He apparently got a text from his anesthesia program at the same time as my text telling him to check his email. Only problem is, they sent it to his military account that he can only check from a military computer which he is no where near! AAAAHH! Frustrating. So I call the program assistant for him and they say they'll call me back once they find out. Didn't hear anything back for a while. So I text Matt and suggest maybe he'll get better results or he could ask another resident in his program to check for him.

I continue on with my morning and am heading to the gym. I'm pulling into the parking lot when I get a text from Matt (don't worry - I don't text and drive. I wait til I'm stopped to check anything on my phone.)

It's a one word text: We

a few seconds later another text: are

(Oh Matt this is not a fun game. I am shaking!)

another text: going

a minute later: to

another: an air force base

another: called

another text: in the english language

That's were it left off. I'm dropping the kids off in child care trying to get to a lifting class on time and reading these messages. My brain is ready to explode. Then I get a phone call from him.

We are going to Travis Air Force base!!

I was stunned. I'm excited to go to Travis, sad to leave San Antonio, freaking out about trying to sell a home and find one out there that we like as much as the one we have here. It takes a while for me to figure out how I feel. It was after all our #1 choice. But staying was a possibility - a nice, easy, comfortable one. I've got such great friends here in Texas. I don't want to leave them and start all over again. I'm sure there are great things waiting for me in Cali (most importantly my oldest brother and his family live close to Travis). A whole mix of emotions going on inside. And tons to get done in order to get there. I'm hoping and praying for guidance in all the big choices we have coming and know the Lord will guide us to where we need to be.

Time for another adventure!