Saying goodbye to FL

A few days after we celebrated Madeline's birthday with our amazing family, we had another get together. This time it was to say goodbye though. It was time for us to start our next adventure: a move back to Ft. Sill, OK. For as many goodbyes as I have had to say in my life, this one would round the top of the list. I dreaded it. Every bit of it. I'm 31 years old, and I didn't want to leave my parent's home. I didn't want to leave that beautiful sunshine state full of my best friends and family and that feeling of pure comfort. There aren't enough ways to thank my family and friends for taking such wonderful care of us during Tom's deployment. I'm sure the homesickness will kick in after a few weeks in Oklahoma and I know they'll all be there for me:)

The move was hectic... We packed up quickly and had the truck loaded and ready to be on the road at 5am on the 21st. 5am came (who really ever leaves on time anyway?!) and my dad brought us one last cup of DD coffee and I sat in my parents house listening to the quietness of the early morning. About five minutes before we decided "ok it's reallllly time to go" my mom asked one last time if we wanted her to go and this time Tom said yes. Thank god she's an easy packer and thank god we brought her along for the crazy ride. She was such a huge help with everything that comes with moving to a different state and living in a hotel and unpacking a house with two small children. I don't think she slept for the ten days we held her hostage, but I will never forget her generosity. The move would not have gone as smoothly as it did without her help.

Tom called that pina colada in a bag "like drinking a cloud"...moving is stressful and leads hubbies to drink everything in the house! One last goodbye with my baby girl Lily Claire. I miss her a ridiculous amount. And so do the girls.

Too many boxes.

Unpacking boxes was simply exhausting for this child. She fell asleep wherever she possibly could...including the coffee table, floor and our bed with a pop tart in hand. (Don't judge me all you judging mothers for giving my kid a pop-tart either.)

Top left is what our master bedroom looked like. O.M.G. I do not know how we ever organized that room. Bottom left is what the playroom started out like. Another YIKES.  And then there's the picture of my babies falling asleep on me. 

Happy birthday, Madeline!

I say this with every age, but I really can't believe she's two. I think any parent will agree that time flies by once you have children and even more so once you keep adding on to the brood. There is a part of me who feels as if I just left the hospital with Madeline as a tiny newborn, and then there is part of me who feels as old as dirt and yes, of course two years have gone by because I can see the wrinkles and gray hair coming in.

From the second Madeline made her appearance in this world of ours I knew she wasn't going to be like our Ella. I had a keen sense of exactly how her personality was going to be and I have been spot on ever since. She came out screaming her head off (ella was surprisingly calm) and her skin was crazy red and blotchy (not the peaches and cream like Ella). She seemed to hate every bit of being outside of me. But I was attached from the second I laid eyes on her. She has a love of life and everything and everyone around her. She's sweet to strangers and has a giggle that could make a Queen's Guard crack a smile over. There isn't a day she doesn't keep me on my toes! I could listen to her tell me stories all day because each one is full of vibrancy and enthusiasm. I may not understand every word, but you can't help but listen to her. She's not the least bit shy like her sister is and enjoys being the center of attention!

I want to capture this age of two in every way possible.  Madeline might drive me batty with jumping off couches and coloring wherever she pleases, but with every age and stage, it will pass and I wish I could take more time to bite my tongue and "enjoy" watching her learn and grow. More than anything I hope she knows how much her daddy and I love her...no matter how many walls we've had to Magic Erase;)

You're a beautiful blessing to us, Madeline Irene. Happy 2nd birthday! May this next year be filled with fun, happiness and zero tantrums. We love, love, love you endlessly.

We spent the morning of her birthday at Gator Fred's. It was pouring rain and I am so happy a bunch of her friends decided to hang out with us!

We had some family over that evening to celebrate with pizza and cake and ice cream. I feel zero guilt for having her party straight from the aisles of Wal-Mart with the Minnie Mouse theme and plastic decor. Between Tom coming home, the move and having a ton of goodbyes, this mama wasn't planning a party. And guess what? Madeline LOVED it. 

Shoes were a very popular gift this year! Very grateful for that!

Giving uncle Bud a hug for his awesome present. 

Her new bike from Mommy and Daddy

Birthday princess!

Just to have her daddy there while she blew out the candles this year meant the world to me...and her:) 

Sharing stories with Uncle Bryan!

Homecoming Party!

Let me preface this by saying, the only reason I am posting about this is because one day I want my children to look back and know their parents had fun and we aren't complete dorks like they will think we are when they are teens. (Even though I am a total nerd, but that's beside the point). I want them to see we surrounded ourselves with friends and family and yes, sometimes a lot of booze that happens to come in the form of a tequila gun. All for good reason to celebrate Tom being home with us. A huge thank you to everyone who came out that night! And an even bigger thank you to all the grandparents who helped watch the girls for us so we could enjoy a weekend to ourselves! We went out Friday night in Ybor for a crazy pub crawl and then spent Saturday just the two of us laying out by the hotel pool, walking around Channelside and a delicious dinner at the Columbia Restaurant. I couldn't leave FL without drinking their white sangria! :)

Our group! 

Das Boot and Das Gun...and Das cute Koch couple MJ and Robert:)

Happy 4th of July!

**I realized I forgot to post this when I was deleting photos from my phone!**

Happy 4th of July! I knew I wanted to do something fun with the girls just the three of us. Every year it seems I am without Tom on the 4th. Ella is 4 and Tom has missed three July 4th's with us. This year I took the girls to the beach super early in the morning before the crowds were there to enjoy the warm, but not blistering sun and the cool, refreshing water. We packed a picnic of red, white and blue fruit skewers (the girls loved making these!) and yogurts and other early morning foods. I couldn't have asked for a better day or better way to spend time with my girlies. We swam, chased seagulls, built sand castles, and made sand angels. It was one of those days that you look back at and smile big.

Ella's "sand angel"

My little firecrackers

Spoiled.

Now that their dad is home these girls are back to officially being spoiled. (And I am sure my parents are rolling their eyes if they are reading this thinking "back to being spoiled?") But Tom has a different way of spoiling them. He spoils them with things. Like trips to Celebration Station and any toys they want when they walk down the toy aisle. He says he misses out on a year of being a dad and since it makes them all happy, I usually stay quiet about it;) I spoil them with the whole "I am so over this deployment and being a single parent that YES you can stay up late and do whatever you want." Either way, they are very, very loved.

Here are few pictures from how we spent some of our time before we left for the long trip back to Oklahoma.

Celebration Station

Yes, that's Ella being thrown in the air scared out of her mind. I do believe Grandma stepped in here and had to reprimand Tom on that one;)

Spray park fun with my ADPi sisters Kim and Nicolette...although I couldn't for the life of me get a great picture of any of the kids playing together! Mission Impossible.

See the joy?

We stopped at Chick-Fil-A on the way home from GA and it was as if mommy never existed:

But I'm really ok with that...for awhile anyway;)

He's HOME:)

***It's been the longest break I have ever taken from blogging. Between Tom coming home, a move from FL back to OK, two girls who keep me completely busy among other things, computer/blogging time has not been a priority in my life. But I have missed it everyday. I have fallen so behind with it though that everytime I have wanted to write, I dreaded that "catching up" part and shutting the computer was a lot easier for me. I have a ton of posts to write and I am going to mark the dates accordingly instead of having them all be in the end of September...so bear with me as a I complete two months of our lives over the next week!***

Back to one of the happiest days of our lives...our man is home! I drove out to Ft. Benning, GA on Sunday morning with the girls to pick him up as he was due to arrive late that afternoon or some time in the evening. When I was about an hour away from post, I got an email from him saying he was delayed in Germany and he wouldn't be arriving until the next morning. Can I just say my heart sank? Literally. I looked in my rearview mirror at two excited little kids and knew that another 24 hours without their dad was going to make them as sad as it made me. I hated the thought of checking into the hotel, staying by ourselves, finding things to keep our day occupied, and waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting. But I simply let them know that we were on our own for another day, but when they wake up in the morning, we will go pick up their daddy. Ella said "don't be sad, mom. There's a pool at the hotel to keep us busy." Oh Ella. I want your simple mindedness. But more than anything, I wanted your daddy in my arms so this year would come to an end. 

We did enjoy the hotel pool (very thankful that both girls can swim on their own now. Makes swimming a bit more fun with them!). We took a trip to Wal-Mart and bought nailpolish and some other goodies to give ourselves manicures and pedicures and picked up dinner. As I left Subway, I kept  thinking "I am so happy I don't have to do this alone anymore. So happy. Last time. I can get through the night." 

Tom called in the middle of the night to let me know he arrived in GA and at some point in the morning we could pick him up. I set my alarm for 6 to be prepared. I got up before the girls, showered, got ready and then woke them up so we could go downstairs and get breakfast. They were bouncing off the walls with excitement and I didn't mind the craziness one bit. Sometime after breakfast, we got the call to pick him up and I don't think I could have gotten out of that hotel faster. All three of us giddy as can be, jamming to music and hoping our GPS would lead us in the right direction to Tom:) Once we parked, the girls were out of their carseats and waiting in the front with me until Tom came out of whatever building he had to sign out of. I am not even exaggerating that when the girls saw their daddy walking toward the car the screaming and excited giggles could have broken the windows. They could not have jumped out of the car more quickly and into their daddy's arms. It was all such a blur, but I'll never forget the way my heart pounded, the way the tears fell down or the feeling of such relief as my husband hugged me. There's no way to describe such a feeling of pure happiness. 

I do remember taking a deep breath on the long drive back to FL and thinking to myself "There it is...I am breathing again." He's home, safe and handsome as ever. We are blessed. So very blessed. 

PS. I cried writing this post just re-living the emotions from that time. It was overwhelming, but a moment I will never forget. 

On our way to Ft. Benning! 6 hour road trip and the girls were awesome!

Is there anything better?

Madeline's happiness is awesome.

Our first photo of the 4 of us!

Homecoming Eve

As I sit here on the eve of Tom returning home to us, I still can't really believe it. 371 days without him. And an extra 12 hour delay due to who knows...but here we are waiting. Just waiting for morning to come so we can head out on the road to drive seven hours to pick up the one we love so much. At this point I would drive to the other side of the country if it meant being a family again. To say we are excited is a true understatement. Relieved, anxious, blissfully happy, nervous, relieved. Really relieved. My better half, my sane half, my patient half is on his way to make our lives easier and whole again. I can't wait for that pit in my stomach to go away from missing him so much.

Thank you to everyone who made my life beautiful and full this past year. I am blessed with an amazing group of friends and family here. All of the love, support, and prayers did not go unnoticed. To my bestie, Bridget, you are my rock and my comfort. Anytime I was about to break, you were right there to get me through it. I think Tom owes you a plane ticket to Lawton...or a girls cruise;) To all of my "mama" friends, those calls, texts, messages and playdates made my heart so happy. You all kept me busy, busy, busy and my mind off of reality! To my fabulous in-laws, especially Monica and Chuckie, thank you for always checking in on us and for constantly making me laugh and helping out with the girls. To my parents, there isn't a blog post long enough to thank you for everything you have done this past year. Thank you for allowing my family to move in here and take over this house...the painters, Stanley Steamer, and Merry Maids will be here the day after we leave;) Thank you to my dad for teaching me to make an amazing pasta sauce, gravy and the most delicious chicken francese ever. To my mom, thank you for having the adept ability to know just when I needed a break. I may have shed a few tears on your shoulders this year and I wouldn't have wanted them to fall on anyone else. You are simply the best!

Last, but certainly not least, thank you my love...for everything.  You already know how I feel and you are not a fan of PDA, so I will leave it at that;)

And as for now, I will go and enjoy the rest of my evening with my girls. It's our last night just the three of us. But I think we're ok with that.

Revisiting June

We certainly kept busy in June. To be honest, I have to look back at the pictures and videos to really remember the month. Everything lately seems to be a blur. Time is going by really fast and these baby girls of mine don't want to slow down at all! Madeline is certainly preparing us with her terrible 2's quickly approaching. She loves to throw fits, and lately seems to be blissfully unaware of everything around her. In other words, she tunes me out constantly and never wants to listen. Ella is 4, going on 30. She keeps telling me she wants to be an adult. The other day she made me cut the straps off her flip flops so she can be "a normal person". She dances around the house ALL day and I find her constantly painting her nails. She is all girl. :)

Granny P reading to her grandbabies

A quick trip to Orlando to see my great Aunt Doris. The girls loved swimming with their cousins. And yup, Ella wanted to be a mermaid in that last picture!

Madeline getting lots of attention from her "great" Aunt Alison and cousin Chelsea:)

My sweet Ella. I adore all of these pics. And she took the one of me in the top left corner and told me I'm "the most beautiful mom in the world". Awwwww.

Bought this nightstand for the girl's future bedroom for $9.99 from a thrift store. Solid wood and I loved the design. So different. My mom and I refurbished it and she made two twin duvet covers out of a king sized one (thanks Stef for donating that!!) and she made some beautiful throw pillows, too! Can't wait to decorate their shabby chic room.

We had a going away BBQ at our friend's Mike and Natassja's house to bid farewell to our wonderful friends, Luke and Caroline. Ella was making lemon popscicles with Natassja here!

Mama got a night out with some friends to celebrate Emily's birthday. It was awesome seeing some of my best friends for a few hours. It's the little things that everyone else will continue to enjoy while I am in Oklahoma;) Booooooo.