what's up

So it's almost the middle of November and it's bittersweet for me. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas and we get to celebrate both in Texas! yay, but...Patrick also deploys at the end of November. I am starting to get sad, nervous, and worried. I know Lillie is going to ask me everyday where daddy is. Ugh, that makes me sick. I know he is so sad to leave Lillie at Christmas time when she is so excited . When he gets back Hallie will be almost 1!! Plus, i am scared to death to be a single mom with no family nearby for 5 months! I talk to a lot of wives here that have had husbands deploy numerous times and they say ut never gets easy. You never get used to your husband being gone for that long-Never! I was talking to a Lt. Col's wife today and this is about the 7th or 8th time her husband has deployed, she actually walked out of the gym today to cry...sigh...I was thinking, man if this lady gets upet, I'm gonna be a disaster! I sure hope someone will come visit me while he is deployed :(
For those who are wondering about him, he will be going to Japan and then on a ship for a month and then on land for a bit and then back to a ship. I believe when he is on a ship he won't be able to talk to us until he gets to land.

I will update my blog more often when he is gone to keep you posted on what's going on with him.

The news is real here

Ok, so this post is a serious one. I am up with Hallie at 2:30 am and I got to thinking about life here in California. It sounds glamorous, but honestly, living around one of the biggest Military bases is anything but that. I feel like I always read stories about young men being killed, wonded, deployed and I think " oh that is sad', but then I move on. After being here a few months i have met people. I have met those people on the news and in the paper. To make it even harder, I have gotten to know there families.  In the summer, lillie and i swim at the neighborhood pool across the street from a single mom with 2 elementary aged boys. I have learned that a few years ago her husband was shot down in a plane in Afghanistan. She still has to go on and raise her kids. I see her driving sometimes and just feel so sad for her.
      The other day at the gym after an intense workout I see a girl sitting down just crying. I asked what was going on and at first I just thought she was hurt or being a wuss. In reality she was sad, sad that her husband had been deployed and she was emotionally drained of worrying....
Another friend at the gym, she is so fun to workout with, so positive, so cheerful; she told me her husband was medically dischared from the marines. I figured he hurt his back or something that you hear about in the city, to me that meant maybe he was overweight or unhealthy. Nope, I was humbled again. Jess' husband had both legs blown off and lost his arm a few years ago....Life goes on for them.
The most humbling story was about one of the trainers at the gym. I recently read about a fundraiser that the gym is doing for a marine killed, blah blah bah, the stuff we read about all the time. After a few days I learned that that Marine was her husband! ugh, terrible. He was killed a couple years ago, and ironically he was deployed with Jess' husband who came home wounded. Anyways, the other day she came to the gym and decided to do 700 burpees, she was there for a while! Turns out, It had been 700 days since her husband had deployed, so 700 days since she last saw him! He never came home:(
 Sad stroies, but true stories, so pray for the military and their families that you read about. Take the time to read about them and know that they are real stories and someone that loves them is struggling or hurting over their loss. These guys are such heros....

Sisters

These two are just so sweet together. I have like a million pictures of them together! Lillie is always laying by Hallie and wanting to pick her up. She loves showing hallie her toys. The other day I hear her say "sweet baby" to her!

 

hunting season

Tis the season of hunting...Well we didn't actually shoot anything, but we did hunt! We hunted for pumpkins, grass, bugs, leaves, rocks, and other things outside! It was pretty fun! We started our scavenger hunt by making binoculars, and then we set out around the neighborhood to search for the things on our list. We had fun:)

 

 

We also hunted for pumpkins on our street. The first picture is where Lillie hid ALL the pumpkins when it was her turn- she was so proud. It took her like 15 mins to get them all up there and organized!

Lillie lingo

So Liz's last post inspired me to write about things Lillie says that are funny. I always tell myself to do this but I forget.

Lillie
    The other day I was laying out in the back yard and my tummy was showing and she told me to "close it"

When I take a picture of her she always asks to see it and the says "awww" when she looks at it

I love how she calls Hallie " Howie"

When she gets tired she says " mama snuggle" ...how can i say no to that??

oh and she loves dental floss! she asks for "minty" not floss

Since Hallie has been here i guess she has heard the word "share" lots, so anytime we have somthing she wants, mostly candy or soda..she tells us "share, share..."

this one she has said for a while, but it still cracks me up.... She will tell people " hi, mornin",  no matter what time it it.

she knows when either Patrick or I put on tennis shoes we are going to "wook out".

When she sees people when we are out, she always points and says "buddy" real loud.

I'm sure there are so many more.....But she is hilarious just to talk to....

Cali stuff

We have been pretty busy lately...mostly with just baby stuff. I finally feel more comfortable getting out with the 2 girls. I put Hallie in the baby carrier and Lillie will just walk or get in the cart depending on where we go. Some days we just stay home, ok most days. I hate staying home bc I feel like Lillie gets so bored! But I always hear that kids are just happy being with their parents :) Patrick deploys for 6 months at the end of November. The girls and I will go to Texas in December and I'm not sure when we will get back to California....Hoping I can convince someone to fly back with me.

 

Lillie ballerina

Lillie loves her tiny tutu class! It is so cute to see her interact with other little girls too.

2 cute

Well on August 25th, Lillie turned 2!! We went to a local pizza place and Lillie experienced her first arcade experience! On her first game she won 50 tickets!! Patrick had been out of town for two weeks and he got to come back to work here for the weekend that weekend, so that was a nice break. We had Lillie's Brown Bear party the following weekend. It was based off of the Eric Carle book "Brown Bear, brown Bear, what do you see?" Lillie loves it and recites it quite well:) I had so much fun planning it and finding ideas since the theme isn't very common. Made me feel like a teacher again! Here are a few pics from the weekend...It was so fun!

I had the cake made, but I threw in my own touch by adding the Lillie banner.

 Lillie got this bounce house from Nana and it was a huge hit at her party

Hallie was dressed in her Brown Bear headband

plus hallie=4

Hallie Reed Blankenship was born July 25th at 11:22 pm. On her due date! she weighed 7lbs 1 oz and was 18.5 inches long. What an experience!! We had to stay 4 nights in the hospital due to jaundice. My O blood type affected her red blood count and caused a stir. I was a wreck. The first 2 nights were fine, but then they said we had to stay another night and then another night...It got scary. She had to wear these little eye shades and be under ultra violet lights for almost 24 hrs and then have blood drawn to check her levels. So after the first 2 nights they discharged me and kept Hallie...So they let Patrick and I board in a room there, but it felt like jail. I was scared for Hallie but also upset because I missed my Lillie! I felt so torn, I felt like both of my kids needed me:( I went home one afternoon for a bit to see Lillie and got to take a nap with her, and then headed right back to the hospital. i didn't sleep much because I found myself walking back to the special care nursery to check on Hallie. we couldn't even hold her to feed her bc we needed those lights to get rid of the issue...Sigh. anyways, we are home and she has been doing great. My mom was here for 3 weeks!!! It was so wonderful. She cooked like crazy, grocery shopped like crazy, and even got up with Hallie in the middle of the night for me a few times....boy, i sure miss her! we are now starved and tired! ha! Lillie had so mcuh fun with nana.... They took naps together, she built her a sandbox, they went for walks, and read SO many books! It was a special time that we will never forget. Lillie still calls the guest room nana's room and so do I;)

The week my mom left, we were lucky enough to have my Mom's group bring dinner! we had food every night. It was so thoughtful and we were so grateful for that!

 Lillie first meeting Hallie, I was worried she would be upset or jealous, but she jumped right on the bed and kept saying "baby sisser". Such a special moment in my life...

Oceanside, Cal-i-forn-ya

Oh my, where to begin...well we made it to California....The past week or so has been slow and busy, if that makes sense? Patrick drove from Texas alone and then Lillie and I flew a few days later. we spent the week in an extended hotel until we closed and then could move in. We are now in! I really like our house, the one Patrick bought without me seeing it first!! That is trust right? We have met quite a few neighbors and they are terrific! very kid friendly area and the weather, well its awesome. Our house doesnt have an A/C!! Its very common here. I know, but its been fine, at night we are freezing. We keep most of the windows open all day. Apparently there are only 2 months when you may get warm during the day, but we will see how bad they are before we get an A/C to use for just 2 months out of the year!
Lillie really likes her house and her yard. She just runs in and out all day and the weather is beautiful. It can be confusing though because in the mornings we all throw on sweatshirts to play outside, but come afternoon the sun can get pretty intense, but still cool in the shade! weird....

Anyways, I am now 34 weeks pregnant and doing fine. Lillie keeps me busy, no time to rest! We picked a name after being set on a few and then changing it...Hallie Reed. pronounced Howl- lee, not Holly or Haley....I liked that name when we were expecting Lillie and it turns out that Hallie means, thinking of the sea, which I thought was appropriate since we moved to the Beach!
Lillie is getting big and is so wonderful. She loves to sing and get dirty:) She is also into babies which is perfect..phew!

34 weeks, due date is July 25th

redid Lillie's room hoping that she would be excited and not scared of a new place...

Travels 1

SO we are now in Texas....We started, Thurs May 10 and headed out to Florida. Patrick's younger brother graduated from Law school, so we made a vacation out of it. Patrick's parents rented a 3 bedroom condo on the beach in Amelia Island. It is right outside of Jacksonville, where the Law school is. Lillie loved the beach, mostly bc it was a huge sandbox! She liked the pool the most.... We left there Monday morning and headed 6 hrs to Alabama, stayed the night and then made it to Sugar Land Tuesday afternoon. Lillie is such a good traveler. She has such a good attitude. She only whines when she it super tired or has been in the car too long, so we stop;) We are all supposed to be driving to San Diego in a few weeks, but looks like Lil and I may fly! whoop!

On another note, we bought a house and move in June 4th, so we are kind of killing time until we close and move in. We are excited about the new place, although it is a bit discouraging that the price we paid, we could have had a much bigger home here in Sugar Land...sigh.

Anyways, I will keep you posted as we move along.
Oh and I am 30 weeks pregnant too while all this traveling is happening! Feeling good, but it is tough riding in the car!!

Travels....

Lillie pointing at wild animals

Nana reading books to Lillie

Lillie laying on the ground outside Sonic..poor girl had been in the car 5 hrs THIS day!

Out to dinner with Blankenships

 

 Loves laying out just like her mama:)

Lillie loved the beach until the water got in her mouth:/

reader

30 unsweetened days...

If you really know me, you know that I have an eating problem. Can be surprising because again, if you know me, I love to workout and for the most part I think I am pretty knowledgable about nutrition....SUGAR....my enemy! How can something we love so much, be so terrible for us!? is it just because we get so attached to it and then it is addicting? I have read that sugar is more addicting than crack! I believe it because with sugar, it's legal! I can imagine how a smoker must feel when they try and quit. I have learned a lot about sugar over the years, but for some reason I just love it. It's actually become part of my identity. When people talk to me for a few minutes they can usually pick up that I love sugar. Certain peple make my addiction worse....Ok, so now I really feel like I have a problem. ha! I love to bake and I love going out for frozen yogurt. OK, so what I am getting at is that I have just thrown away a perfectly good cake i made for Easter and ALL of the candy, yep, even Lillie's! :/ ok I saved her a pack of m&ms- she loves them and they are great for bribing:) I never really give myself goals, so for the next 30 days, no sugar. For me this means candy, cakes, frozen yogurts, etc. For someone not familiar with sugar, it IS in many of our so called "healthy foods". Personally, i just need to cut out the treats before I dig deeper. My body is going to be so happy after 30 days....Sugar is evil! Causes so many problems that many of us don't know about...For one thing, if you are an athlete, good or bad, sugar really brings you down. I am no nutritionist, but I am a mediocre athlete who has tried to get by with loading up on sugar and then hoping my results in the gym will get better....Honestly, i think i have done ok with that route, but as i am getting older I see girls that are 18 and 20yr old workout with me and they are pretty darn strong and getting better fast! For me, i think I could be stronger, faster, leaner, and overall happier if i just didn't eat so much damn sugar! Thanks for letting me vent:) wish me luck, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Easter 2012

The neighbors and their 2 girls came over along with our good friends Melissa and Garron with Lily. (Lillie's bff) I made lasagna and of course dessert and the girls had so mcuh fun playing outside. I have never heard Lillie laugh so much. She sure loves when people are at our house.

This is the only pic I got of us before church....

Easter was just as much fun as Christmas this year! We had many egg hunts and made so many Easter crafts the week before. Lillie was so excited to get her "canny" from the bunny.

The bunny brought her and Patrick goodies!

Marching along....

Lillie got a new table from Nana and Grandpa(paw). She loves it! She especially loves it when i turn on the DVD player too:)

This picture makes me so happy because he is home!!!!!! Patrick was gone all month..yep, all month. It was tough, we went to Texas for a week and that helped...nana spoiled the heck out of us! when we were in Virginia we just stayed busy. I sure am grateful for good friends and neighbors:)

This day we painted and i had to keep her entertained, so i just so happened to be cooking Asparagus and i handed her one to use to paint with!

hehe...this one cracks me up...when we went to Teaxs there was a box of hand me downs from cousin Lexie and this track suit was in there. It looks so funnyon her, i think bc she has short hair and could be a boy. Also, she HAD to have these water shoes on! lol... i sure love her!

Bethesda

Today was such a FUN day! My best friend Melissa and I took the girls to Bethesda, MD. It as about 40 miles away from us. (Patrick is gone for the entire month, so I am trying to keep busy!!) We went to a playseum, which the girls loved. I didn't get many pictures, but they have a sand table room, cupcake decorating, storytime, grocery store, beauty parlor, grandmas room with old things, pet shop with live animals, and SO much more! The weather was beautiful, so we loaded the girls on my BOB and strolled down the street to Jimmy Johns, not too glamorous, but hey we DID have 2 toddlers with us! We had so much fun because our town is SO not like that. It was nice to be somewhere with sidewalk shops and cafes plus the weather just so happened to be perfect! We definately have to do that again.

This was right before we left, she had pigtails and they were so cute. Unfortunately they didn't survive the car ride...

Lillie and BFF Lily in the fire truck at the playseum...

18 mos

On Feb 25th, Lillie will be 18 mos old! Whoa...She is Hilarious. Here are a few pics of what we've been up to....

She wouldn't go up to bed without her purse and this huge wad of play-do...too funny! She handed it over eventually;)






She is the snuggliest girl. Still loves to pull on my hair and lay with me.

This is her and her best friend Lily...They were going crazy with these packaging peanuts. Lily calls my Lillie.. "B". It's confusing for them to have a friend named the same... My Lillie calls the other one "Illy".

Oh sweet Lillie, she is 17 mos old and awesome! We[ all 3 of us] laugh everyday...
she talks so so much...
-she knows all the words in her books
-grabs your hand to play "ring" or ring around the rosey
-loves chi-os (cheerios) and then asks for "meelk" or milk to put in her bowl of cheerios
-she says "peas' when I turn the bath water off so you will turn it back on
-she calls the ABC's - AB
-when we put her in her car seat she immediately asks for the Elmo cd
-she is bad sometimes, at dinner the other night she threw he peas on the floor and then when patrick was on the ground picking them up, she dropped peas on his head!!! uh oh- we have behavior problems:/

Oh and my favorite right now...at night I sing " He's got the whole world..." when I start the song she says "Papa" bc she wants me to sing his name in there, so sweet:)

Oh and today when Patrick got home she waited for him to get out of his car and then said " Hi Dada" like she was 5 yrs old, it made my eyes tear up..precious