Happy Birthday, DW!

Also, DW turned ONE YEAR OLD this summer.

So much about our family has changed from point A to point B since one year to the next.  Last summer we had just gotten settled into our home in Louisiana.  HW hadn't been home from deployment yet for even a year and was just getting the hang of being dad to an 20 month old.  And then bam we had two!  And then before we knew it we were moving again...getting settled into life in Kansas as a family of four...and now here we are just eight months in Kansas and already gearing up to move again in three short months.  Military life is really a whirlwind adventure and finding your footing as a new family can be tough when you are constantly changing locations and support systems.  But it's what makes our family us.  It's what makes us unique.

Here's our little DW on his "birth" day.

I know, it's so cliche to say how fast the first year of baby's life goes.  But I'll say it again.  It goes by fast.  Well, it does in a sense...you begin the year with this little squishy nobody and in the course of 12 months he becomes this sitting, crawling, walking, talking, laughing, hugging, kissing, adorable SOMEBODY.  Somebody you could never have dreamed you could live your life without.  So while a year of crying, no sleeping, rocking, bouncing, shushing, carrying, nursing, and holding can seem very, very long it is amazing how quickly your little baby changes...and your family changes...in just one year.

Love you little buddy!

Summer summary. (part one: June)

Well, folks, it was a busy summer here at Ft. Nonsense.  But summer's over and it's time to get back to writing!  I'll try to summarize the last three months for you quickly in the next three posts:

We took a road trip from Kansas to New Jersey with a stopover in PA.  Two and a half days of driving.  Just me and the boys.  No we are not insane.  We are a military family.  This is just par for the course for us.

The boys were actually really great for the trip. They slept 90% of the ride and did little to no crying.  Logistics were the difficult part.  Try checking yourself and two small children and several pounds of baggage (because you need EVERY toy, blanket, snack, and baby gear gadget in your arsenal to make it through the night) into a hotel with no help as the hotel clerk just stares at you from behind the very un-busy counter instead of lending you a hand.  Tip:  Find a luggage trolley and load everything, including the kids, onto it.  Don't worry about the weird looks you get.  

Whew!  We made it!  Now pack the kids all back into the car because you need to get dinner at the Cracker Barrel...

The long drive was worth it though because we arrived on the East Coast safe and sound. We had fun with grandparents spoiling the kids. 

We ate bagels.  Real bagels.  They only exist here.  So if you haven't eaten one in the NY/NJ area, I'm very, very sorry for you.

We had a dinosaur tea party. 

We went down the shore.  Which is what people from NJ say when they go to the beach.

We ate cotton candy on the boardwalk.

And real pizza.  Same deal as with the bagels. For having been born on the west coast, it's apparent that real pizza connoisseurship (yes, I think I made up that word) is handed down via genealogy not by birth location.  AW knows good pizza.

We got DW baptized.  He liked it, really, he did.

We saw lots of family and friends, ate lots of great food, and had a swell time.  Then hit the road again.

  

Back to the midwest!

Summer summary. (part two: July)

After our trip back east we stopped at a lake resort in Missouri for some "down" time.  Only...staying in a very small hotel room with a baby and a toddler after a very long two weeks already on the road is like...well...like being locked in a room with two rabid, sleep-deprived, foaming-at-the-mouth escaped lab-experiment animals.  It was, in fact, the very opposite of this very peaceful picture of the sunset on the lake.

The resort was great for the kids though and they loved all the fun things to do.  We went to the pool.

Took a paddle boat out on the lake.  

DW fell right to sleep on the boat of course.  Couldn't do that in the hotel room though...

Went fishing.

Actually caught a fish, though we followed zero of the rules about fishing, actually, AW did the opposite of all the things one should do while fishing.  

Saw some lake creatures.

And enjoyed some 4th of July fireworks.

Summer summary. (part three: August)

After our vacation it was time to head back home.  HW had to get back to work and the rest of us had to get back to...well, whatever it is that toddlers and stay at home moms do all day...

We went shopping.

Took long walks.

There were bounce houses

 and pony rides.

We bought a snake.

Played.

Watched the LEGO movie Ten MILLION times.  Everything is awesome!

Went to LEGOland. 

Ran our first family 5k.

And had so much fun we just passed out wherever we put our head.

 

Summer vacation.

Sorry no new posts in a while!  We are still knee-deep in summer vacation fun!  Will update soon.

Pool day.

If you are a fan of Paw Patrol, and I know you are, then you know there is an episode where the pups save a pool day.  AW of course has seen this episode many times.  And he talks about having a pool day fairly often.  So FINALLY, summer is upon us and the local pools have opened.  And we had a real pool day.

See this smile here?  This is AW's I'm really, really happy smile.  And as a mom, that smile is pretty much the best thing ever.

He had fun just going up and down the steps for a while.

Then he ventured off a bit.  The water was pretty frigid. But that wasn't stopping him.

Waiting for the lifeguards to give the all clear to go back in.

And here's DW lounging around waiting to be discovered to do the next sports illustrated swim suit cover.

We can't wait for our next pool day!

A day to remember.

There has been so much I have wanted to write about lately but I feel the universe, or perhaps just my children, are conspiring against it.  But I do want to force myself to stop a moment in the midst of our hectic days and share this post with you.

Yesterday was Memorial Day.  This weekend usually means the start of summer - backyard barbecues, camping trips, sunny pool or beach days - and the summer season is a wonderful thing to celebrate with family and friends. But in the fervor to crack open a beer, light up the grill, and make a red, white, and blue Pinterest cake, sometimes we may lose sight of what Memorial Day truly commemorates.  It is a day to remember those who died in service to our country.  It is sometimes confused with Veterans Day, which commemorates all those who have served, but the day is set aside to honor those brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.  And honor them we should.

Before I became a military wife, the truth is, the day did not have much personal meaning for me.  Growing up, war was something in the history books, and felt very far away.  But then September 11th occurred.  And then we were a country at war.  And yet still, it was something that didn't bump into my world too often or too forcefully.  

But now, after being on the other side - no longer living in the quiet comfort of my civilian world - the day is filled with more emotion than I think I can handle at times.  When you see your husband's unit deploy to war and not all of them make it back, the meaning of so many things once taken for granted become amplified. The American flag, the Star-Spangled Banner, a bugle call, the boom of gunfire.  These things stir my heart now in a way that could not have existed before. I stepped over a threshold where every day country, honor, duty and sacrifice all have new and very real meaning.  

There is a running group we have become affilited with that is committed to honoring those men and women who have fallen and their families. Wear Blue: run to remember (http://www.wearblueruntoremember.org) began at JBLM (Joint Base Lewis-mcChord) in our old town of Dupont, WA.  I would see blue clad runners around town on Saturday mornings and see the chalk messages written into the pavement urging runners to keep going and urging us all to remember the fallen.  

The group has grown and spread across the world now and we are proud to have been a part of the first meet-up here at Fort Leavenworth. Before each run names of those who have died in service are called out, a moment of silence observed and prayer said.  

The route we take goes past the cemetery on post and reminds us.  It reminds us of those that have been lost.  It reminds us of the families that were left behind. It reminds us of all the men and women still deployed, still in harm's way.  It reminds us that every day we have with our servicemember should not be taken for granted. 

It was special, inspirational, humbling and emotional to run with this group on Memorial Day and to be a part of an even larger community running for the organization all over the world.  We pledged the miles we ran in rememberance.  The goal of Wear Blue was to have 6,803 runners pledging their miles for the 6,803 casualties since the war on terror began.

The goal was surpassed.  And for me a new Memorial Day tradition was born - wearing blue and running in rememberance to honor these heroes.