Its Getting Warm Out There

Today was finally nice enough to pull Jackson's pool out. The hose water was a little cold so I warmed it up a little with a couple pans of hot water from the sink. It wasn't super warm, but much better than the cold! I brought Jackson out to test the water with his feet and he immediately started splashing. I quickly changed him into a little swimmers and we were out on the deck splashing and playing. Kaison was over and decided to join us for a while. It took him a little longer to get used to the water, but he ended up having fun too. I can't wait for the weather to get nicer and nicer throughout the summer. My little water baby is going to have a blast splishing and splashing!!

So Thankful...

After the storms I noticed that two of the back panels of our fence had come off of the post supporting them. I was a little nervous that the Big Storm was going to knock the panels completely off. Luckily they didn't go anywhere. With Aaron gone I am seriously lacking in the free muscle and manual labor. To my surprise my friend Jess' husband Kevin shot Aaron a message asking if we had any damage from the storms that I needed help fixing. How amazing is that?? A positive thing about the army...we are all family and when the family is in need, no matter how big or little we are there to step in and fill the "missing shoes" of the absent member. Thank you Byrne Family!!!

 

Just like his Dad and Uncles...Crap!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen...The Angry Metal Face!!!

 

And then the Blast Beating...Oh Lord Help Me!

That time of year again

 

With it being April we are officially in storm season. The past week we have had some bad storms with horrible thunder and more tornado warnings than I'm comfortable with. Today was no exception. Jackson and I started the day at the movies with a good friend and then ran some errands. By the time we got home he was ready for a nap. While I was unloading the car the tornado sirens went off in the distance. It gives me the heebie jeebies when the sirens go off and there are blue skies all around us and clouds far in the distance. The reason is because in a blink of an eye the sky looks just like the picture above (a picture from today). By the time I got to the tv the storm was ON us. The street that leads to my neighborhood was the main concern for the storm. Can we say FREAKING OUT!!! To make matters worse, Jackson never fell asleep so he was screaming and letting me know how unhappy he was. I quickly threw the bathroom together with dog beds, pillows, diaper bags, and bottle fixins and called the boys to come snuggle up. By the time I got Jackson to calm down, with a bottle in his mouth, to hear the lady on the tv...it cut out! At this point I lost it. Crocodile tears flooded my face and hit the top of Jackson's head. At first I was mad and then I was scared. One thing Idaho taught me was how to handle the world of mother nature. The only lesson she didn't cover was tornadoes and I hate being unprepared. I think the reason why I let them get to me is because it is the only weather that I can't control my situation. In the rain or snow I can stay inside and when I go out I can take certain precautions to get where I need to go. I know that my family and I are safe!! In a tornado...nothing is safe. I can only give it up to God and tell him that I need him! Another line of storms are supposed to come in within the next hour, the ticker at the bottom of the television screen is already on Tornado Watch and Flood Warnings. Looks like its going to be a long night. Before I go to bed I will definitely be saying my prayers. What I think is bad during the day is so much worse at night.

Uh-oh Daddy

 Are you ready to share? Bwahahahahahaha!!!!

Happy Easter

Today started out with a BANG!! Welcoming Easter in Storm Style we had a horrible thunderstorm this morning. I really wanted to go to church, but didn't really want to venture out into it with Jackson. I reluctantly I got us both dressed for Easter Mass during a break in the storm. About 20 minutes before we were going to leave the house J had his breakfast reappear all over. By the time I got him changed my cute dress turned into a pair of khakis and a black t-shirt. God understands...right!?! Mass was packed as usual, those Holiday Catholics and their seasonal appearances to uphold. Jackson was in his flirt zone with the people sitting next to us and was being shut down right and left. I saw him step it up a notch and was successful with the lady behind us after many attempts. I know he felt accomplished with the cheesy smiles he was flashing. After Mass we went to Walmart to pick up some food for a mini Easter Dinner with Brittney and ended up getting caught in a torrential downpour! We were SOAKED from head to toe. Jackson was not a happy camper at all! By the time we got home he was ready for a nap, so I attempted some laundry. Before I knew it, it was 5 and I had to get dinner started. With it only being the two of us I made a simple ham steak with some green beans, potatoes, and biscuits. Nothing fancy, but very delicious! I didn't think Easter was a very big holiday for me, but it didn't feel right to sit at home alone and eat a microwave dinner. SO happy to have family in friends here to make the not so important, yet important days easier!! Happy Easter Everyone!!

Jackson's Easter "Basket"

Walk for Autism

Saturday Morning was Fort Campbell's Walk for Autism. I figured why not and donated the $8 for the shirt and set my goal for 4 miles IF Jackson would allow it. I woke up early ready to start the day, but my stomach had other plans. Somehow I managed to catch the stomach flu and thought I was going to die! I took all of the meds I could and bundled J up for a rainy day. I was lucky enough to have Brittney and her family as well as my friend Melissa and her boys walk with me for this amazing cause! About 2 miles in, J had had enough and was telling me so. It was perfect timing because all of my meds had worn off and I thought I was going to have to take an Emergency Stage Right to the restroom (TMI...I know). By the time we got home J was ready for a nap and so was I. After a nice snuggly nap with my little man I woke up feeling much better. We were able to skype with Aaron for a bit and then Nana and Papa. Despite the rough start and various speed bumps it ended up being a pretty good day!

I had a bad day...

Where is the moment we needed the most ?
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
You tell me your blue skies fade to grey
You tell me your passion's gone away and I don't need 

no carryin' on
You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces everytime and I don't need 

no carryin' on

Because you had a bad day, you're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know, you tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day, the camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day, you had a bad day

This song seems to of been the story of my life the past couple days for some reason. Before the army I would have a bad day because someone irritated me or I did something stupid. The day or moment would pass and I would go on with my day. Since Aaron joined the army the term "bad day" has a completely different meaning. Its a day or days that I am an emotional mess, most of the time for no reason at all! What I think triggered the past couple days was planning out my trip to Arizona and Idaho. Don't get me wrong I am Ecstatic about the trip...I just hate that Aaron won't be with us. This thought alone starts the mind racing about all the things he's missed and then the things I miss about him. *Insert tears here as I am typing this...ugh* No pep talk from a friend or family member can really help fix a bad day. It’s usually isolation or keeping busy to just get the day over with. Luckily I have some great friends, and an amazing son that give me a reason to get dressed in the morning, or else I think it would have been a pajama kind of week.

One Might Say...

That its time to start childproofing 

 

 

 

 

 

Jackson isn't crawling yet, but he is so close its scary. He is scooting in reverse and is rocking on his hands and knees like a wild man. Most of the time he moves away from the object he is trying to obtain. Today, he was able to move forward enough to make it to my usb cable! Our house is not a complete danger zone to kids, but we have put off the little stuff like leaving our laptop cables and remote controls out when not using them. Lesson has been learned with the remotes! Jackson was so kind as to give 2 of the 3 amazing slobber baths=] I was in denial that my baby is becoming a big boy...guess I'm going to have to get over it. I feel bad for the boys though. They have NO idea what is in store for them in the near future...lol!!!!

Teeth

The world always looks brighter from behind a smile.  ~Author Unknown

As most of you know we have been teething the past couple months. There's been a lot of crying, drooling, and JackJack appearances. I am happy to say that as of yesterday we have officially cut a tooth. It still needs to grow in, but the tooth has broken. Can I say that this Mama is relieved!!! I don't know how much longer I could handle J and his moods because of the pain. I know that we are not out of the water yet, and last night was a clear example of that. Around 1am Jackson woke up screaming. I tried to soothe but nothing helped. Any time he laid down on my chest he would start up again. I felt completely helpless! So instead of making him lay back down we had a mini movie night in mom's bed. I gave him his teething stick, and silicone banana and let him go to town while we watched Lilo and Stitch. Anytime he would drop the stick or banana he would be okay, but if I made any attempt to put it back in his mouth he would lose it. About 45 minutes into this routine of dropping and picking up he finally passed out. I felt so bad for him and can only hope that the next 31 teeth are a little easier then the first! Why does something as wonderful as a smile have to hurt so bad?!?  

 

Let's Go Fly A Kite...

This last weekend was Aaron's last weekend before he heads overseas. Some how we lucked out and it was the warmest weekend we have had yet! Nothing but sunshine and blue skies!! While we were out shopping we came across a kite. Aaron got this smile on his face and couldn't stop looking at it, so we went ahead and spent a whooping $3 on it. I have to admit that a simple picnic and a kite made it a perfect day!

Jackson wanted to try flying it too

Flowers

Everyone has heard that before you get a dog you should get a plant. I have owned dogs my entire life and have only had a plant survive for about 3 months...lol. With such beautiful weather that we have here I have been eager to attempt a garden. I decided to do a "test run" with some hanging baskets and a couple pots of flowers instead of a garden. Smart...I know;) I decided to enlist Aaron's help before he left. I could lie and say that I he just watched over me while I got my hands dirty, but I won't. Jackson started fussing and wanted Mama so we supervised Dad's handy work! (Thanks again babe!) I took some pictures of the final product after planting and will have to update everyone with pictures in a couple months to see if I have tinted my brown thumb green!

 

Family...

A couple weeks ago I got a call from my Uncle Eddie (a Really good family friend who is more family than friend). He called to let me know that his son EJ was coming to Tennessee to tour some colleges, UT in Knoxville and MTSU in Murfreesboro. He wanted to get together for lunch sometime during their visit and I didn't hesitate at the opportunity to see them. With Aaron's leave date for training being delayed he was actually going to be able to come with us. Aaron has only met Uncle Eddie once, at dinner on Family Day at Basic. He had never met Tina or EJ, while I haven't seen either of them for at least 12+ years. This visit was definitely needed!! We ended up meeting at P.F. Changs (to curb Aaron's week long craving for Chinese) =] We had such a good time that we went back to the hotel with them and stayed a little longer to chat. It was an amazing day. I am So thankful to have the McGills in our lives...even if we don't see you very often!! Love You Guys!!!

Family Pictures

 We decided that with Jackson turning 6 months and Aaron leaving for the next couple months we needed to get some family pictures done. Here are two of our favorites. Jackson was his natural Hammy self! He was shrieking and giggling and smiling away!! Sadly, these are our first real family pictures. I am a little disappointed with myself for not having newborn pictures done of J. I won't let the thought slip my mind again. I already have a game plan for his 1st birthday and Aaron's next deployment;)

A Baptism

On Saturday we had Jackson Baptized. I was raised Catholic and when Aaron is not home I tend to lean towards Catholic Mass instead of a Christian or Baptist Church. I really don't mind what church we go to as long as we go to church. The sad thing about Aaron being gone all of the time is that we haven't been able to find a church that fits both of our needs. Some day! Two months ago it kind of hit me that Jackson had not been baptized yet. I found myself feeling guilty with him being five months and not having received this Sacrament. When we finally got around to finding a church to hold the ceremony in, J would be six months old *eek*. What put the most stress on getting it done asap was that Aaron was leaving for two months. So if we didn't get it done at six months it wouldn't happen until he was almost NINE!! That was just too much for me to handle. We went to the church down the road from our house the next Sunday and talk to the priest. With this being a military town and our all of our lives on such difficult schedules they try to do whatever they can to accommodate our needs, including performing a baptism during Lent. Jt & Heather (J's Godparents) weren't able to come out for it, so we had our good friends Brittney and Cory stand in as their proxies/army godparents!  We are so blessed to have these two in our lives. They are such good people and are simply amazing friends. 

The ceremony was perfect, short and sweet with all the right stuff! Jackson talked the ENTIRE time!! We were all smiling and laughing at how vocal he was. He knew that this was for him and wanted to help Fr Dave out with everything. He knocked the paper with all of our names out of his hand, he tried grabbing at the oil, and then he tried grabbing Father's hand to suck on his fingers while receiving a blessing. Lol...only my son would be SO helpful!!! 

 When it came down to the actual water part he was all smiles. The only thing he didn't understand is why his head was getting wet and the rest of his body wasn't!?! Before we got Jackson changed out of his romper he finally saw where the water was and tried his best at getting into it. Luckily dad won that battle!

I didn't really make his Baptism a big thing. Just invited close friends/family to it! We had a pretty big turn out=] After it was all said and done we went to a delicious Mexican restaurant and celebrated Jackson's awesomeness with some Margaritas! We are Catholic after all=]

What a Day

Today is Aaron's birthday!! I absolutely love birthdays. I mean you get one day a year to celebrate you and all of your awesomeness. What isn't to love about that? I guess you would have to ask Aaron. He seems to think that its just another day and its no big deal. Even though it was not a big deal to him, he really enjoyed his presents from me and J=] We surprised him with a PSP and some games to take with him on his trip. (He is complaining yet enjoying a game as I type this...heehee.) Aaron went to work early today, but because of this training he is going on came home soon after to enjoy a long weekend. It was so nice to have him home to help out with Jackson and a little housework. Sadly, we weren't home long because I had a lunch date with some ladies from the Boards. Aaron tagged along so we could head to Cory's promotion ceremony right after. Cory is one of Aaron's soldiers and a really good friend! I am so proud of him and his accomplishment of promoting to Sergeant! *Go Cory* The guys had a short formation and then the "ceremony" began. Aaron had the honors of pinning him. Basically he got to rip off his old rank and put on the new one...very cool! I have always wanted to do this for Aaron, but he seems to always promote when he is overseas. Ah, some day! After the promotion we came home for a little bit and relaxed while J took a nap. We ended the night celebrating Aaron and Cory at a Japanese Steakhouse and then parted ways with the Kvarteks to catch a movie. Aaron won't say it was a good Birthday, but I think he would admit that it was a Good Day. I will take what I can get!! Happy Birthday Baby!!!