A little of this, and a little of that...

I thought I was doing alright, until I realized it's been 2 months since my last post! Oops :) Not much has been going on around here, same old-same old. Brandon is on the 2pm-12am class schedule, and has been for almost 3 months. It is ok, he likes to be able to sleep a little longer in the morning, and be able to run errands that normally he wouldn't be able to. The hardest part for me, is trying -not- to stay up to wait for him. It was easy at first, but now I find myself up at 11:55, and kicking myself for not going to bed when I had the chance! I've been using that time to craft, read, and sew.

Shhh..don't tell Brandon I posted this! 

Personally, I think he looks dapper in his uniform,

although he doesn't always share the sentiment :)

First I made a rag quilt for the new baby, I am in the process of crocheting a throw rug, and another baby blanket-and just finished my first wreath! I also read -9- books! (given, that 7 of them were Harry Potter...I guess I only read 2! Haha) It's amazing what I can get done when I'm not chasing Chloe around! :) For awhile there it was too hot for us to go on our walks during the day-even at 8am it was already closing in on 90*, luckily now it is creeping back down between 70*-75*-the downside being that now I am the size of a baby dolphin, and have trouble waddling along our mile route :)

C-bug is growing like crazy, (she will be 18months next week!) and learns something new every day I swear. She officially knows the letters A, B, E and O-can correctly identify them and tell us what they are when we ask. She is working on D, M and N- M is "mmm" and N is "nen" but she loves to hold up her magnets from the fridge and pretend she is asking herself what the rest of them are-she is such a cute little nut!

My sweet girl reading her books :)

It's crazy to think that we have just over a month before our new little bug arrives, and we couldn't be more excited. Chloe likes to pat my tummy, and give it "hugs" and kisses. Whenever she wants to do this, she will point at my tummy and say "baby!", and tug on my shirt. We think that she is going to adore her new little sister (and hope that we are right!) and will take good care of her :)

On a completely random note-my hair is long enough to put in sock buns again! I was ok with it being shorter at first..but when the heat and humidity really hit-I wished I had a better way to keep my hair up, and now (for the most part) it is long enough. I know- doesn't seem like a big deal, but living in a semi-tropical climate and having a built-in, personal heater...I was excited to see that it worked again :)

Well, I will have to get more posts put together-I still need to write about our trip to Minnesota for Adam and Bri's wedding, and another that will probably just be a photo blitz of all that Chloe has been up to!  Hopefully I can catch up before this little one decides to show up :)

Pinteresting

I've only tried a handful of the things I have pinned, mostly recipes, but this was one I thought was fun! It was super easy, and took me like 10 minutes start to finish. They are cute little flower clips, and I made mine out of a tiny scrap of ribbon I had in my craft drawer. There are so many possibilities with these! Here is the lovely post-nap Chloe modeling for me. Don't mind the  banana chip drool on her t-shirt :) Here is the link, if you'd like to make your own!  http://smittenonpaper.com/blog/?p=1973

Just a walk in the park

...or at least down the street to the playground! It has been closed since we moved here, they were cleaning it out and finally filled it in with recycled rubber yesterday! So we decided that would be our destination on our walk tonight. Chloe thought it was fun walking on the slightly bouncy surface, and had fun swinging and sliding with Daddy's help :)

I also thought I would throw these in here: Chloe found the car mirror this morning while I was making her  breakfast, and she couldn't help but play and dance with her reflection! :)

And, just a cute pic of Chloe and Brandon dancing to some pre-dinner tunes :)

OK-and if you somehow missed the announcement..We are expecting! A girl, due in early November :)

Our New Adventure

Yes, it's true. Among the towers of boxes and piles of stuff...we are still alive! :) We've had a busy few weeks, but we are slowly getting things in order and adapting to our new life! I just thought I would take a minute and share a few pics, and save the rest of the story for later! 

Here's Chloe yesterday morning when she got up. 

Hello? Can you hear me now?

Here we are enjoying our favorite rainy day activities:

 "tackling" Daddy and playing pony :)

Speaking of rain...we've gotten about 4" of rain over the last 3 days

We definitely aren't in the desert anymore! 

Chloe and I are doing well, we get to see Daddy most evenings and over the weekends. He should be able to move in with us this coming weekend, so we can get back into a normal type of life! :) I will get more pictures of where we live/Biloxi when this rain lets up a bit!

Our Trip to Texas

Last month, Chloe and I were able to fly to San Antonio, for Brandon's graduation events. His parents, Denny and DeeDee were also able to attend. We left before the sun got up on Wednesday the 18th, and got home long after it set on Sunday the 22nd. The 5 days in between feel like one long day, just incredibly drawn out. Flying with Chloe actually went really well, thanks to baby signing time, and some friendly aisle-mates who happened to be grandparents themselves.

On Thursday we made our way to the Air Force base, and first caught a glimpse of the Airmen running in their formations, chanting their "jodies". But that's all it was, a glimpse-we then had a briefing for the events of the next few days, on what to expect and what the Airmen could, and couldn't do. After that was the Retreat Ceremony, all 600+ graduates marched in, lined up in their flights. It was after this that we would finally get to see Brandon! Luckily his flight was literally right in front of us, which was ideal, as we would be fighting a thousand other people to get to our Airmen. Thursday afternoon we were able to stay on base with Brandon and just relax. He told us lots of stories about his experience, and loved being able to play with Chloe.

On Friday, we had the graduation parade in the morning, and then the rest of the day Brandon was able to leave the base to hang out with us. We all went back to the hotel and had naps. We also went to dinner at a fun bbq place called Rudy's it was just a little lean-to attached to a gas station/convenience store.

Saturday Brandon had the whole day off base, so we made a little trip to SeaWorld. We went early enough in the morning that the crowds weren't too unbearable. Just about the time we were ready to leave we really noticed the influx of people. Chloe had fun, but she also mostly slept in the stroller all day..lol Brandon had fun riding the roller coasters a few times, and even convinced his mom to go with him once! After that we just went back to the hotel again and hung out, Brandon and I went and got Jimmy Johns for everyone and brought it back to eat, before I had to take him back to the base. (I drove almost everywhere while we were in San Antonio, it was a little unnerving at times, but overall went just fine)

While at basic training, Brandon's flight earned the title of Warrior Flight, which gave them the opportunity to also leave base on Sunday (a luxury only awarded to honor grads and warrior flights). I went over early to pick him up, and we grabbed a doughnut on the way back to the hotel. Because of our check out time, and our flight later in the afternoon, we just had time to wander a nice mall and have lunch, before hurrying Brandon back to base, and then driving back the opposite direction to the airport. Finding the rental car return was THE worst part about driving in San Antonio. The directions they gave us were completely incorrect, and we ended up just going to the airport, and then following a rental shuttle to the lot. Luckily we made it with time to spare at the gate.

I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to even go and see Brandon, after 8 1/2 weeks it was the best thing ever. I was an anxious mess for 3 days before we left, and it didn't really go away until I stepped in front of Brandon after the retreat ceremony. His graduation marked a new transition into our lives in the Air Force. I am so excited for what comes next. Brandon is now at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Ms and has started his training for his career in Cyber Transport Systems. He is enjoying the "freedom" compared to basic training, and loves eating all he wants whenever he wants! :) Chloe and I will be joining him within the next month or so, and I couldn't be more ready and excited!

Easter Dress!

Chloe and I made a little visit to Uncle Ben and Auntie Megan's house last week. While we were there, Megan was nice enough to take a few cute pics of Chloe in her Easter dress :) We also went to a little Easter egg hunt that their ward hosted, and got a few fun presents from Grandma and Grandpa Harvill. Chloe had a blast hanging out with her cousin Noah, and we enjoyed getting to see the new house! Congrats you guys!

Chloe's 1st Birthday

This post is almost 2 weeks late, but hey. Here it is anyway! We had Grandma DeeDee and Grandpa Denny over for dinner and cake, and had a fun time opening presents! It was a nice low-key affair, maybe we will go a little crazy once she actually realizes what is happening! Here are some cute pics, I got her little shirt on clearance at Carter's (score!)