No More Waiting

When we found out that we would be staying in Hawaii for another three years I immediately made an appointment with the housing office so that we could get on the waiting list for a four bedroom home.  I guess we could stay in our three bedroom home, but why not get a bigger place?  When I went to my appointment a few weeks ago I was told that it would be at least a six month wait.  I was expecting that because that's what I was told the last time we moved.  When we moved into the house we are currently living in we only had to wait for two weeks before we got our phone call that there was a house available.  So of course this time I was keeping my fingers crossed that we wouldn't have to wait too long.  I really wanted to be into our new house before our new bundle arrives.  All I kept thinking was that we were going to be offered a house and it would be right when I was getting ready to have the baby.  Much to my surprise we got a phone call last week informing us that they had a house available for us.  And it turns out that it's four doors down from where we live right now.  It's nice because we won't have to rent a U-Haul and our new address will only change by one number.  We will be moving March 17th, which is a Thursday, and have to be completely out of our current house by that Monday.  That means lots of cleaning will be taking place that weekend which I'm not really looking forward to.  We were thinking about just paying the fee to have someone come in after we move to clean the house, but why spend $275 when we can clean it ourselves.  If it was only $100 I'd probably pay it, but considering we have to have the carpets professionally steam cleaned I don't want to spend any unnecessary money.  If anyone would like to come and visit us and join in on our fun moving weekend, please feel free!!  I'm already looking forward to being done with the move, having everything cleaned and put away.  However, I've got a lot of packing to do before I can even start thinking about being settled in our new house.  I definitely feel blessed that the move will be done before baby girl #3 enters our lives!

My Big Girl

I can hardly believe that in two months my first born will be 3!  Where has the time gone.  I swear she wakes up taller everyday.  She is growing like a weed these days and her appetite definitely goes along with that story.  We just upgraded her out of her toddler bed into a full size bed.  She was more than thrilled with the change.  Riley even picked out her bedding set which was none other than Dora the Explorer.  I didn't want a themed bedroom for her, but she desperately wanted a Dora bedding set and who was I to refuse her request?  Plus Trey reminded me that when Riley outgrows her Dora phase that she will have two younger sisters who will probably still be loving Dora.  I need to take Riley shopping for some new clothes because she's getting so tall that her shirts and shorts and getting too short!  Here are a couple of shots that I took of Riley this week.  Where has my little baby gone?  She looks so big to me!

February Hotness

Ok, don't be too jealous!  There have been quite a few days this week where it's been hot enough outside that I put the girls in their bathing suits and turned the sprinkler on for them.  Oh yes, a major  perk of living in Hawaii is being able to play outside year round.  The winter months are definitely colder than the summer months, but the sun has been getting more intense the past week or so and we can definitely feel the difference.  Riley even makes comments that it's too hot out and she's ready to go inside.  I try to have them play when there is a nice cloud cover or where there is shade.  But now that it's warming up, we just play with water.  Hadley thought the sprinkler was super funny and played in it quite a bit and then decided to go back to playing with the sidewalk chalk.  

Be Mine

The girls are still a bit young to understand the meaning of Valentines Day.  But I still wanted them to know that they are loved!  They each got matching outfits with an adorable top that said "lil' love bug" because they are my love bugs!  I wanted them to have a cute valentine shirt, but I wanted them to be able to wear it again too.  I thought this shirt was perfect!  We went to Riley's gymnastics class in the morning and exchanged little Valentines with her class and coach.  Riley was super excited to receive little Valentines, but wasn't too keen on saying Happy Valentines Day and passing hers out.  The girls received hand made Valentines cards from Kiki.  I, however, wasn't privileged enough to receive one!  They also got a gift box from their Nana filled with all kinds of goodies: cups, bubble necklaces, little stuffed puppies, and their favorite treat was a light up wand.

When Trey got home from work I surprised him and got us dinner.  I didn't feel like cooking, so the next best thing is carryout, right?  We both enjoyed the delicious Cajun chicken pasta from Chili's.  Trey surprised me with a dozen red roses, which were totally unnecessary, but much appreciated!  After dinner Riley rode her scooter and I pulled Hadley around in the wagon to try and work off my full belly!  I think Valentine's Day is over-rated, but it is always nice to take the day to remind the people you love just how much you really love them!

Same Zip Code

Most of you know that after much deliberation Trey is staying in the Navy.  We thought for awhile that we would be leaving the military life because Trey's PTS was denied, but it wound up getting approved and I thought it was a sign from God that he was suppose to stay in.  So after finding out that Trey was staying in the Navy it was time for Trey to pick orders for his sea duty.  There were a ton of orders to Japan which we were seriously contemplating on putting in for.  Then I started thinking as much as I like adventure, I don't know how much I'd like an adventure in a foreign country with three children and my husband on deployment for 6 to 8 months at a time.  I started feeling very uneasy about moving to Japan.  Trey was in agreement with me and we decided that Japan wasn't the right move for us.  We both agreed that trying to get back to VA would be ideal because my family is only a 3.5 hour drive away.  And with Trey being gone on deployments it would be so nice to have family and friends near by.  But the Navy wasn't going to send a family of five in Hawaii all the way to VA when there are a bunch of open positions on the west coast.  So Trey selected orders for San Diego, Lemoore, and Washington state.  I was keeping my fingers crossed for the opening in Washington because the ship he would have been on was going to be relocating to VA in 2012.  I was excited thinking about moving closer to family and friends again.  Then I get a phone call from Trey last week telling me that he knows where we are going.  Of course my fingers are crossed for Washington.  Then Trey proceeds to tell me that we are staying in Hawaii.  I thought he was kidding me, but he wasn't!  I wasn't too excited when I first heard the news.  But then once I let it sink in I realized that I really couldn't be too upset about spending another three years in Hawaii.  We've got perfect weather year round, the girls get to experience the most beautiful beaches, and Trey makes enough money that I don't have to go back to work right now.  Plus since we are adding a new addition to our family we get to move into a four bedroom home.  Trey will be leaving for deployment in September and I'm already thinking how crappy it's going to be.  He's going to miss Hadley's second birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.  But that's all apart of being in the military!  So if you feel like celebrating the holidays in Hawaii please feel free to join me and the girls!  I've gotten pretty good a cooking a holiday meal and you'll have a free place to stay!  I'm excited to be staying here longer.  We now have more time to visit Maui and the Big Island which we haven't gotten to do because I kept getting pregnant!  But now we have three more years to discover the other islands!  And now, for all of you that haven't gotten your butts out here to visit us(and you know who you are), now is your chance!  

Burst of Energy

On a normal evening you can always tell when it's bath time/bed time.  The girls both start getting fussy and rubbing their eyes.  However, last night the girls were in rare mode.  I was cleaning up the kitchen and heard Hadley cracking up laughing.  I looked over into the living room to find Riley dragging Hadley around the floor by her arms.  I had to grab the camera because it was the first time I've seen this game being played!  I couldn't believe that Hadley was enjoying being pulled around by her arms, but her laughter was cracking me up!

Then Daddy turned on some music so the girls were dancing together, as usual.  Hadley looks like she's been hitting the bottle in this shot!

After the dancing, out of nowhere, Riley starts running back and forth from the entry to the living room.  I don't know where she got all of this energy from but I'm glad she was getting it out of her system before bed time.  Hadley was cracking up watching her big sister run through the house like a wild woman.  It's the little things that entertain these girls!

Battling a Cold

 It's been about a week that Hadley has been battling an awful cold.  Her nose is constantly running and she's got a horrid cough to accompany that runny nose.  Riley had a runny nose for a day or two and then was back on the healthy wagon.  I had the privilege of getting sick along with Hadley, but luckily for me it only lasted for 3 days.  Thanks to Sudafed for getting me through the rough days!  I feel so awful doing it, but I have to suction out Hadley's nose about 4 times a day.  She HATES having it done and fights me tooth and nail every time I attempt to suction.  I literally have to put her legs under mine and hold her head down on the ground so that she doesn't move while I try to clean out her nose.  It gets done much quicker this way!  I'm seriously hoping that the cold passes soon because I'm tired of suctioning (what seems like) a gallon of snot everyday!  Aside from the fact that Hadley has a cold she's been in pretty good spirits.  The cold has affected her napping, but she's been sleeping through the night with no problem.  Thank God!  The picture below is a shot of Hadley concentrating on building her Lego tower.  She gets frustrated pretty easily these days when she can't do something.  She wasn't happy with me for interrupting her concentration to take a picture, as you can see!