That mom

Before I had Mac, and even during my pregnancy, I vowed to myself that I wasn't going to turn into that mom that went out in public looking like she just weathered a tornado. I remember telling Nathan, "I don't understand these women, having a kid doesn't mean you can't put on a matching outfit and still get your hair cut every now and then." Little did I know that having a baby/toddler changes EVERYTHING! It's not that I'm just now realizing this, but as Mackenzie enters the next phase of her life, she is getting to be a sneaky little thing. I certainly don't have time to try on 3 different outfits before leaving the house, nor do I have the time to make sure the back of my hair is straightened just right. And makeup, well, that's for special occasions now.

Last week I had the chance to go to the mall without Mackenzie, and I practically ran out of the house, excited to be alone for a couple hours. It was great, I walked around, enjoyed the holiday decorations, took my time trying on clothes. Not until I was getting ready to leave did I realize that I had macaroni and cheese stuck to the front of my sweatshirt. WHAT?? Had I walked around the entire mall wearing mac n' cheese noodles? Yep, I sure did.



Have I turned into THAT mom?


Oh well, if I'm going to be THAT mom, looks like Nathan can be THAT dad!

Happy Anniversary!

November 18th, 2006, Nathan and I were married

November 18th, 2007, Nathan and I celebrated our anniversary and decided he would apply for Officer Candidate School.

Today, I am celebrating alone with a glass of wine and the flowers my hubby sent.

I am actually okay with the situation, I need to get my feet wet as a military wife and it almost feels like a right of passage. The military has completely changed my perspective on relationships. I can't get hung up on things like a missed anniversary or missed birthday. What's the point? I value the time we do get to spend together, the moments between a father and daughter, the moments that make us a family.

I have selected a few of my favorite pictures from our wedding day.

On a separate note, I checked my hotmail account today and found a newsletter from milblogging.com. I actually found several of them, but was drawn to one in particular. There is a military family in need of prayer and support. While serving in Afghanistan, Captain Rob Yllescas was severely injured by an IED. This family is in the beginning stages of a very long journey. His wife has started a blog to keep family and friends updated. Take a look if you have a chance. http://yllescasfamily.blogspot.com

A New Look

I've spent the past hour trying to update the look of our blog, it takes me a while to make decisions. It's not completely how I want it, but I have a feeling Mac will be waking up from her nap soon so I'm going to stop while I am ahead.

We dropped Nathan and his friend off at the airport this morning. It wasn't as emotional as I thought it would be since we're going to see each other in a few weeks for Thanksgiving. It seemed like every time I was about to cry Mackenzie was running away from us, climbing on something, yelling at the giant stuffed bear, or just being silly. Gotta love that girl. When Nathan entered the security line I told Mackenzie to wave good-bye to dad and she looked up at the 10 foot bear standing to the left of us and started to wave at it. Oh well, I tried.

One of Mackenzie's new tricks is going completely limp when she doesn't want to do something I want her to do. I noticed her doing this a few other times before today, but was hoping it was just a fluke....I was wrong. Give this girl a wide open space, like an airport, and she's off to explore. Whenever I tried to gently guide her back to our seats she would fall to the ground like a wet noodle. Thankfully she wasn't kicking and screaming, I'm sure she's saving that for later when we're in a really crowded mall.

The pictures were taken yesterday at the beach near our house. Cappy is a pretty lazy dog and will sleep about 95% of the day, but something gets into her at the beach and she's ready to play. She even wandered into the water a few times, tried to take a drink, and realized it was salty.

A day at the beach

I think Mackenzie's face shows exactly how I was feeling last Wednesday. We found out that Nathan was to check-in to ATC school on November 18th. Yikes! Not only is that our two year anniversary, it is about 2 months earlier than I was expecting. I'm trying not to be one of those "oh, poor me" kind of girls, so encouraging words are warmly accepted at this point. I knew he would be leaving again (and again, and again, and again) but I thought we would have a little time to meet people and familiarize ourselves with the area. Guess I'll be flying solo on this one.

Here are my observations of the base so far; not as many children as I expected, the playgrounds are usually empty, NO cell phone reception at our house, close to the beach, pretty laid back atmosphere, not a lot of places to shop other than the Super Wal-Mart. Oh, and the restaurant selection is limited, unless you like Bojangles' (famous for their Chicken 'n Biscuits). I think the base will grow on me as I meet more people and become involved with the programs here.

Despite the challenges our family faces, I am thankful for this life and the path we have taken. I feel myself changing, growing. I often have to remind myself that with great challenge, comes great reward. I believe this to be true and have already seen those rewards through relationships and new experiences. So, while the months ahead will be different than I had planned, I know we will be alright.

The pictures below were taken today. It's November and we went to the beach. That's crazy to me, can you tell we're from Indiana?

Here we go again...another move!

Wow, it's almost been two months since my last post. Things have been very hectic around here and since I am short on time I will update you with a few pictures. Nathan and I leave Atlanta this morning and head to Cherry Point. I'll get back to posting once things settle down. Hope everyone is doing well!

Mackenzie waiting for our private tour of The White House.

Still waiting....with a hot, cranky, baby.

Some of Nathan's fellow classmates from TBS that took the tour with us.


Leaving The White House, thanks for the tour Amber!

Mackenzie and I went home to Fort Wayne for a two week visit. I drove past our rental house and found this....over grown ivy, bushes, and weeds. I am happy to say that with a few calls to the property manager things were cleaned up.

We went to the lake for a few days and enjoyed the quiet cottage. Mackenzie wasn't too sure about the sand, as you can tell by her face.

Mackenzie got a new tutu from her Aunt Joyce and....

...she wore it on the golf course. What else do you do with a tutu?

We had the chance to spend some quality time with friends and family. Mackenzie spent most of her evenings running around on the golf course with grandma and grandpa, the neighbors loved us!

Mackenzie and I made the 10 hour trip back to Virginia without any problems. Nathan was glad to have his girls back. We spent the next few weekends sightseeing in DC. Some of our favorites were the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, aka the DC zoo, WWII Memorial, Washington Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial.

"I love this place."


Mac trying to climb into the WWII Memorial.




Mackenzie in Nathan's barracks room.


Nathan and Mac on Warrior Day. Warrior Day was the day before graduation that allowed families to come see what their Marines have been doing at TBS for the past 6 months.

Mac in an amphibious assault vehicle. She looks right at home.

Me with a M249 SAW.


Mackenzie familiarizing herself with a M240 G.

Lt. Richardson and his family. Little Alan and Mackenzie had quite a few dates at the local McDonald's.


Nathan finally graduates from TBS. Congrats!




After graduation we drove down to Cherry Point to check out the base and find a house. This is what we ended up with, who's jealous? We will move again in Feb. to a renovated house.


We moved out of our apartment at the end of October and headed south to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Miller.


"I hate pumpkins."


"Not really, I just hate having my picture taken."

"Meow" says the kitty with high waters on.

Happy Halloween!