Grandma Visits!

The past 9 days my Mom Barb has been visiting us! We had a great time while she was here! John loves his Grandma and was extremely spoiled all week long! It was a nice break for me just to have a little help around the house! We went to Surf City one night and had Dinner at Maxx's pizza and afterwards we walked the shore. John was a little scared since it was dark out and he was a little cold but he still had fun! We also went to Onslow Beach during the day and John was in his glory chasing the birds and throwing shells! I found some really cool shells for my collection also. My Mom and I had a chance to go out to dinner and spend some time just the two of us. Even though I am 24 years old I still need my Mom just as much as I did when I was young! We also were able to go and see that movie Nights in Rodanthe with Richard Gear and Diane Lane. It was great and highly recommended. She left this morning at 5:45am and now it is back to our routine for about 25 days until Matt comes home!!!YAY!!!!

TROPICAL STORM HANNA!

So here I sit at 11:24p.m. It just started raining steady about 2 hours ago. The wind just picked up a couple of minutes ago. I get pretty excited for these storms to come through and they they just turn out to be rain and wind. What fun is that? Ike is the next hurricane coming through and it should be the bad one. Hopefully we wont have to go to a local shelter! I guess we will see! Stay tuned.

A nice Nap!

I started getting sick on Tuesday of this week and by Friday morning I was miserable! I have not had a cold in over a year so I guess I had it coming! Katie came and picked John up Friday night at 4pm and I slept from then to 8:00am Saturday morning! It was so nice to be able to truly rest and have time to myself! Thank you Katie and Jimmy for being such good friends! I really appreciate it!

BUCKET HEAD!!

For Christmas Matt bought John a bucket of blocks that you put through the holes in the cover!
He loves it. He loves it so much that he wears the bucket on his head and walks into walls. The funny thing about it is the bucket is clear so he can see where he is going. He just likes to walk into the walls! Only my son!!HA!

Not to much going on!

Loves his Kiddie pool finally!!!!
Watching Finding Nemo!
Playing in the mud and throwing it at the dog!

We haven't really been doing that much since we returned from MN. Just trying to pass time until Matt comes home. I decided not to go back to work again as I was struggling to stay afloat. The market is shot right now and unless you are a seasoned agent it is hard to stay busy! I think it is more important to stay at home with John at least while we can afford it! Hopefully I will be able to find a job by the time Matt comes home. Matt will be home the end of October. He has a date but as most of you know it is not worth it to say it because it will most likely change at some point!HA!
We are looking forward to my Mom and Al coming the end of September! They will be driving here for a week to try and help break up the time before Matt comes home! It will be nice to have company!

Minnesota

On June 11th John and I headed home to Minnesota to visit family. We were originally supposed to stay for 10 days but ended up staying for a month! It was so nice to be home with family. John had a great time getting to know his family members that he only gets to talk to over the phone. They also had a great time getting to know him! John also got to meet his Grandpa Larry, Aunt Desiree, Uncle Matt and his cousin Hailee. He really enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them! It was short lived but I am sure we will be seeing them more often now! While we were home my Mom was diagnosed with Lupus. Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can affect the joints and almost every major organ in the body, including the heart, kidneys, skin, lungs, and brain. Normally it is hereditary but stress can also cause it! Since it doesn't run in the family stress is most likely the cause of it! Which would make sense. She has a moderate case which is good. They have finally found a treatment that has been working. She says that she is feeling better than she has in a long time. We were glad that we could be home with her when she found out. She needed us! We returned home on the 9th of July and are just trying to get back in the routine and await Matt's return! 2 months to go and time has stopped!HA!

A little Behind!

Wow I am way behind on this thing! Well Matt came home in April for his 2 week R&R! We had a great time! We went to DC for the Memorial Ceremony at the Memorial Wall. It was a lot better better weather than the first year as I didn't feel like every limb was going to fall off my body! I must say though it was a little strange. Everyone is supposed to get up and read there loved ones name and move on to the next person, but it soon started to be a government bashing ceremony. We were happy to be there and Matt ended up being able to read his Dad's name this year so he was very happy about that. Afterwards we enjoyed a great Sushi Dinner with some friends and the next day went home! We were able to go to the NC Aquarium while he was home and took John to the beach for the first time! He liked it a lot! He would rather dump sand on himself than play in the water. Yep, he's a boy! Matt had to go back to Iraq on the 30th of April. Half way done!!!!!!

Happy Number One John!

March 16th was John's first birthday! His Grandma Carol(Matt's Mom) came into town for the weekend and it was a lot of fun! We had a little party for him with friends and I baked him a chocolate cake. Apparently he is taking after his Mom because he didn't seem to like the chocolate! He wouldn't touch the cake. I am not really sure who else would have since it didn't look very appetizing! Everyone else said it was just my baking!
I think the highlight of the party was he got to see and talk to his Daddy! He loves seeing Matt on the web cam! We got to talk to him for about 30 minutes! It was also nice that Carol got to see Matt to! I know she was really happy to see him!
John got a lot of really nice toys and clothes for his birthday! It was great to have friends and family that care so much about him! Here are some more pics of the the big day!

Matt's Homecoming

Matt called tonight with some bad news. The Gunny on Matt's team had to come back to NC because his wife had and unexpected seizure. To my knowledge, they do not know why and are trying to figure it out. He is expected to be in NC for a month to be by her side. We are very happy that he could make it home to be with her and their family. They are in our thoughts and we pray that everything will be alright.
Matt may not be able to come home when he was scheduled(middle of April) if Gunny is still here. Right now everything is as scheduled but if something unexpected comes up he may not be able to come home for a while longer. Until then we miss him and can't wait to see him! Please keep the Gunny and his family in your prayers!

We Miss You Daddy!

John and I had this picture taken at the Exchange yesterday for Matt! We really miss him and are excited for him to come home to us! He is coming home in April for 2 weeks and we are all very excited!

Finally have a moment!

I haven't been blogging at all lately, since Matt left time has gone by really fast. We have been keeping very busy! Work hasn't really picked up for me at all so I am taking a couple of months off to be home with John! He has been very sick since Matt left. He has had 3 ear infections since Thanksgiving and is now just getting over Pneumonia. It has been tough for him but we are starting to see the light! Matt is doing well in Iraq! He is very tired, as they all work 16 or 17 hours a day without a day off in between. He will be coming home for his Vacation in April sometime. He will only be home for about 2 weeks then back again for 6 months.
Johns 1st Birthday is coming up on March 16th! Can't believe that it has been a year already. Check out the slides I have made from the day he was born until now! Hope everyone is having a great year so far!