Change of Command

Yesterday was a big day for our family. 

 Seth took his first command!

  It's a big honor and he was hand picked for the job.  God definitely orchestrated this job move for us...in many ways.  I am so proud of Seth and his hard work and this amazing accomplishment so early in his Army career!

The start of the Change of Command weekend was a huge surprise for Seth.

His dad drove down from Virginia and Seth had NO idea!

I love the facial expressions and how surprised he was.

Here are the pictures from the ceremony yesterday.

It was at such a great venue...I love the huge American flag. 

 Made you proud to be an American just to stand in front of it.

This little guy had WAY too much fun.

He was a little angel during the ceremony and he was eating up all the military stuff going on everywhere.

Caleb was chomping at the bit to eat some cake so he got to have the first piece.

I am pretty certain that Caleb thought he was just as big as all the other soldiers.  He sat with them and talked to them.  

Seth's dad witnessed a pretty funny situation. 

 All these soldiers sitting beside Caleb stood up to leave and they told Caleb goodbye.  Caleb stood up and saluted them and they all saluted back...without laughing at him.

He thought he was big stuff.

  I wish sooo badly I could've caught that on video, or at least witnessed it myself. 

He was also given TWO coins yesterday and if you know anything about military coins, that's a pretty big honor!

 Caleb loves being on base and loves all the soldiers.

I'm pretty sure the cake was a hit!

After the ceremony and reception, we followed Seth over to his new office.

It's so much nicer than his old one.

We are having a little office decorating party on Friday.

I have all his certificates and diploma's framed and ready to hang.

We also bought him a snazzy name plate for his desk.

It was a great day.

I'm just so proud of my husband.

I know I'm probably driving all my facebook and twitter friends crazy about how proud I am of him, but I just can't help it.

He's a one of a kind man!

twenty.nine.thirty

29 weeks

 30 weeks

Caleb wanted in on the action...silly as usual

Today I am 31 weeks!!!

Where is this time going?

Caleb "helped" me hang the curtains in the nursery.  

I also managed to make a big chalkboard art piece and I found a cute crib sheet on clearance at Target for $3.50!

We still have to pull all the baby stuff from the attic.  I'm getting nervous that we aren't going to get everything done in time, especially since time seems to be passing super quickly.

We also decided to throw Caleb a little birthday party next weekend.  

He is turning THREE!

Between planning that party, keeping up with my Etsy shop, and getting all this baby stuff together, I am one busy lady...but having fun doing all of it :)

Yesterday, we went to visit Seth at work.  

Caleb insisted on finding *everything* he owned that was remotely "soldier-y" to wear to see his daddy.  He wanted to be an Army man. 

 He wore his Patton helmet everywhere around base and we got quite a few laughs...it was pretty daggone cute.

And this is exactly why Caleb loves going to see his daddy at work.  

Lot's of guy stuff everywhere. 

 He is 100% BOY!

Let me tell you a funny Caleb story. 

 Last night, Caleb came up to Seth and said he needed to show Mommy something.

  I was in the bath tub so Seth asked him, "What do you need to show her?" Caleb hands Seth a book that he has in his hand.  Seth takes the closed book and notices that it has some extra bulk to it.  He opens it up...and finds a pair of Caleb's underwear in between two pages.  All the while Caleb is cracking himself up and yelling, "It's underwears in there!!!"

That kid. 

 I am pretty sure I have a class clown on my hands.

Have you entered the Valentine Day Giveaway yet??? 

 If you haven't, you have until Valentine's Day to enter to win over $100 worth of great prizes!!!

Happy Weekend!!!

Veterans Day & MilSpouse Magazine!!!

Hello to all and Happy Veterans Day! 

 I am so thankful to every single Veteran who has sacrificed.  All the dad's and mom's who have missed months and even years with their children and families who have given the ultimate sacrifice for all of us...no words would ever be sufficient enough to say thank you.

I'm especially proud of all my family members who are Veterans and extra proud of my husband! We love him so much!

Seriously, look at this hunk! :-)

AND as a military spouse, I was contacted recently about having my fabric wreath tutorial published in MilSpouse Magazine and guess what???

 It's in this months issue!  

Now, I just have to make it up to base to grab myself a copy!

 Prettttttttty excited about it :)

Wiregrass Museum of Art

   The more I get to know Caleb, the more I realize that his little 2 year old self isn't much different than my 25 year old self.  Some days he wakes up in a fabulous mood and the day seems to be GREAT! He doesn't have to be punished for anything, he's not whiny, he listens, he's sweet and he's just a joy to be around.  Then there are days where I literally feel as though he's morphed into a different child that I don't recognize.  Everything we try to do seems to be a struggle, he's crying and whining about anything and everything and 90% of what end up coming out of my mouth that day seems to be, "Caleb, stop doing that!" or "No!"  

  We've definitely had quite a few of the struggling days here lately.  This move seems to have put him in a confused state. Everything from misbehaving to seemingly forgetting that he was potty trained a month ago! He understands that we have a "new house" but I often find him asking for his friends back in Columbus.  He especially seems to think about them just before bed and I'm so sad that he hasn't been able to meet any new buddies yet to take his mind off the buddies he's missing from his "old house".  I can't blame him though.  I have also been in a not so fabulous mood here lately.  I miss having an outlet...a group of great girlfriends that I can call and meet up with in a few minutes notice.  We've been working non-stop trying to get our house in order and now that things are slowing down a bit, I am realizing that I don't have that network of friends here.  I'm at square one and I'm super frustrated!  I know that in time, Caleb and I will both meet new friends but for right now, I feel we are both sad and lonely missing our friends that we no longer live near.

   However, last night and today have been what I would like to consider a turn of the corner...perhaps for both of us.  My stinky attitude and mood seem to have disappeared.  I was able to read a few great devotionals and spend some time with God, asking Him to help me get over this hump in the road and to appreciate each new moment and to have patience that new relationships will develop in His timing.  I don't want to miss out on the great times that I could be having just because my attitude stinks...it's my choice what I'm going to do about my circumstances!

We started off last night by taking Caleb to see his first movie in the theatre.  We saw Winnie the Pooh and it was the cutest little movie.  Caleb didn't budge!

    Then this morning I got on the computer and looked up some fun things that we could all do together in these last couple of days before Seth starts his new job...and lo and behold, I found an entire list!  After a great lunch at Panera, where Caleb ate his entire sandwich without whining and complaining (and if you knew Caleb, you would know how great of a feat that was!), we drove downtown and visited The Wiregrass Museum of Art.  We truly had a great time together.  Caleb behaved like a little angel which meant that Seth and I could actually enjoy ourselves.  After looking at the exhibits, we let Caleb play in the kids area for a good 30 minutes....of which he LOVED! Seth and I even had fun coloring with him. He didn't fuss or throw a fit when we had to leave...oh how I wish everyday could be like today!  

The perfect devotional for times when you are just in a funk you can't get out of: 

"My Utmost for His Highest- After Obedience---What?"

I love it because it talks about the importance of NOW rather than later.  "God's training is for now...His purpose if for this minute, not for something in the future..."

This devotional is a reminder to me that every moment counts.  Live for the NOW, not for the future...life is short and if we don't live for now, our life will pass us by.

I'm reminded that every day as I see Caleb watching me and mimicking me.  Even my 2 year old can pick up on my rotten attitude.

Such an encouragement to me to put my sad, quick tempered, moody, rude self to the side and take on each moment with a positive attitude that would glorify God.  After all, as Christians our sole purpose in this life is to point others to Christ through every aspect of our lives!  I'm not perfect and never will be but that won't keep me from trying my best to be better with each moment...no matter if I fail more than I succeed! 

I'm still here!

We aren't hiding from yall!

We are just busy unpacking and cleaning up...I haven't forgotten about my blog though! 

Just wanted to poke my head out from under the bucket it's been in and say "Hi! What's going on?" 

We Made It!

It's been a lonnnnng week but we finally made it and we are working hard to get the zillion boxes unpacked! It took me most of today to unpack the kitchen and Seth was able to get all our utilities figured out and unpack the living room.  

THIS is what my kitchen looked like last night!  One of the packers was new and I could tell which boxes he packed.  Literally, everything was thrown in the box...including knives just scrambled in with everything else and no packing paper around it! Eeek!  That's why it took me so long to unpack because everything was so unorganized when I opened the boxes.  But thankfully, Caleb took a ginormous nap and I was able to get everything unpacked :-)

I think he makes pretty lovely bookshelf decor, don't you?

One of my favorite parts about the house...our back porch!  We ate breakfast on it this morning :-)

This is how you eat cereal when you haven't unpacked the bowls yet:

The gateway to the back yard! After a little trim, it will be looking lovely.

 This is one tired little guy...sleeping in his big boy bed for the first time!  He didn't even try to escape :)

I am also having a trash can dilema in the kitchen...we have a mid-sized black trash can now and I have no place to put it! It won't fit in the pantry or under the sink and I don't want to just leave it out in the open.  Any suggestions? Perhaps a good under-the-sink trash can idea?

The Time Has Come, The Time is NOW!

Time to move...from here:

(the day we closed on our first house)

To There:

Not sure how long I will be without internet...hopefully not too long! Although I don't think they are coming to hook up our TV and internet until the 18th...so this could be a long week but I think we'll manage :-)

Look at all of these great people we are going to miss!

And Caleb's little buddies

Our girls night out Monday night...couldn't think of a better way to end our time here!

Do I have beautiful friends or what??? 

Then they had to go and give me this mug and make me cry...Dr. Seuss will get ya every time!

God has been so good to us here.  I know that as one door closes, another door is opening and there are other friends to meet but we will never forget all the wonderful people we have met here!  No one can ever replace them.

 We are so blessed.