North Carolina in December

Thats right! We will be residents of N.C. We will be leaving California and on our road trip way to North Carolina. Rutherfordton to be exact. December 28th is when we leave. We have a moving company coming to pick up our stuff. Then the kids, Andy and I will be in our van, driving, site-seeing and watching dvds. We are super excited to start this new chapter in our lives as a family. After this no more moves. Just one more block to block move in a couple of years when we purchase our first home. But other than that. No more military and no more out of state moving. YAY!
Andy will be here for Thanksgiving and then coming back for Christmas, his 26th birthday and then the move. Then after we are settled Andy will be heading back to Hawaii to finish up for a couple of months and then back home to N.C to us.
It will be perfect because Chase turns 3 in January and I might be able to get him into a preschool in January, we will see. I haven't looked into all of that yet. But when he makes friends, I won't have to worry about us moving again and Chase losing his friends.
So much to look forward too. Just 3 more months!!! The countdown begins. :)

Fun in the Sun

The kids played out back today Great-Grandma has a big backyard, and now since Madison is walking, Chase has a buddy to play with outside. They had fun going down their slide, playing in the dirt and chasing after each other.

The kids had so much fun and they got so dirty.....that when they were all done, they had their baths and dinner. Now they are ready to fall asleep at 6:30pm

New Shoes

You know those hidden, in the corner, child/baby boutiques? They always have the hippest and stylish things in the store.The clothes, shoes, toys, etc, that are always so unique? The cute things that celebrities would by for their babies? Well I found one of those stores today, well I'll give the credit to my madre, even though I have driven by the store and wished to go in, but they were closed. This store was adorable. Although, in these types of stores EVERYTHING is on the pricey side. Just like the store "Smooch" the Kardashian's own in Calabassas, CA. I walked into their store and actually saw Kourtney working in there. But everything was too pricey. The store I went in today might be closing, so they had 20% off one item you buy. Well I bought Madison two pairs of shoes. These shoes were SO CUTE. They had tons more and I wanted them all. I have to say Madison will be so stylish.

I have the "mommy brain". I am always forgetting things. Which means I forgot to post about Andy and I's trip to Laughlin, NV and the Colorado River. The mini honeymoon/vacation that we really needed. There would have been pictures but we forgot our camera.
We took this trip a couple of weeks ago. We stayed at the Harrahs Hotel and Casino. We had a nice room on the 15th floor. Half of our room looked over the River. Nice King bed, flat screen tv on the wall. It was just all around great.
We rented jet ski's while we were there. Andy and I took turns driving. Well while my lovely husband was driving and I was clinging to his back, a boat drove by and made some extra waves. So on top of the current of the river and the waves that the boat had made...and the speed we were going...WHEW...we flew into the air about 3 feet. Then BOOM we landed. I am suprised Andy didn't have any marks on him for how tight I was holding onto him. My neck got tweaked up a bit, a minor whip-lash. My neck hurt for about a week. But it was fun. When I drove the jet ski it was like I was flying..so I had alot of fun. The river water was cold but the temp outside was about 109 degrees if not, hotter. Since it was that hot, the water was nice to be in and to be in the AC rooms of the casino was nice.
I don't know how to gamble and hubby has a few years of experience. The slot machines were not bringing us any luck, so we hit the tables. Andy is pretty good at blackjack. He lost a couple of times, and won a good share of a couple more games. There are hand signals of playing these games and lots of rules. I didn't feel like looking stupid, so I let Andy do all of the playing. We didn't win much, and what we did win we lost by playing again. Thats how gambling goes.
The hotel has singers that play there, so while we were there Earl Turner was playing. He sings blues and old school songs. He was VERY good. I loved all of the songs he sung.
Andy and I had such a good time. We can't wait for our next mini honeymoon.
Once we came back home, it was the greatest feeling in the world to see our kids greeting us with love and smiles.

Happy 1st Birthday Madison

The Birthday cake above Grammy (my mom) made for Madison's birthday. Yummy! It was so good. White Cake with two layers. In the middle was vanilla pudding. Along with the yummy pink frosting and sprinkles. Shhh...I even had a little slice for breakfast.

After the cake, then came the yummy homemade ice cream with cookie dough chunks. That was very tasty too. Chase loved the ice cream.

Then came the presents. Madison recieved alot of clothes. For those of you that have kids-Babies, you would know how FAST they grow out of their wardrobes. I love Carter's Clothing because they look so comfortable. Plus all of there clothes are super cute. My mom and step-dad got Madison a couple of outfits and some pj's, and Chase recieved some clothes too. A BIG thank you!

Here are some pictures from Madison's Chuckie Cheese Birthday Party!!!

Take Me To The Fair...

This is about a month too old, But I thought I would post it anyways because this day had so many firsts and it was a fun day.

(Chase with his Aunty --->)

This summer we went to the VC Fair with Grammy, Aunt Ashley and Papa, As the kids would call my sister, mother and step-father :)

We took the train down to the fair and back home. It was the first time Chase and Madison had ridden on a train. Chase was so excited and he loved it.

It was fun for Chase, because he had never seen so many BIG rides and things in his life. For Maddy and I it was just too HOT. I get crabby in the heat. But when Ashley and I went on a ride I got a bit excited. One ride did it for me though. I took the kids mostly so Chase could get on a few rides and its always nice to get out of the house.

Chase bumped into this clown at the fair, and he wasn't too excited as you can tell in the picture. My sister can't stand clowns and this clown was trying to talk to her. It was a funny moment. Chase looks so miserable in this picture.

Chase went on about 5 rides and he had ridden those rides about twice each. He had two tickets left, when we left the fair. Chase didn't give those tickets up. For about a week Chase was carrying those tickets in his pocket and always talking about them. It was cute.

We had a good time. I think that will be the last time going to the VC Fair. Many more fairs to go go when we move to N.C. :)

Maddy's First Birthday

Maddy had three birthday parties. One at her great grandma Barb's house in Ridgecrest on the 16th, then a party at Chuckie Cheese on the 31st and a party this weekend on her actual birthday the 6th of September at her Grammy's House in Oxnard. Madison got lots of gifts. Toys and clothes for winter. We are very thankful. A big thank you to everyone. Madison loved her birthday cake. It took her a bit to warm up to it, but once she was ready, she was ready. It was face first into the cake. I still can't believe our little girl is one. This past year went by so fast. I still remember exactly how the night went when I found out I was in labor with her. It was so unexpected so I don't think I'll ever forget. I am just glad that Andy got to come home close to her birthday. It was more special with him being here.

Madison's second party at Chuckie Cheese was fun. More fun for Chase and Andy and I then Madison. Madison isn't sturdy enough to let her walk, so she was in the stroller most of the time. I wouldn't recommend having a first birthday their. We didn't know any other children to invite either, so there wasn't too much going on. Chase will probably end up having his third birthday their. He is always asking to go to Chuckie Cheese. Madison mostly loved the pizza and cake. Andy and I earned over a thousand tickets though. Yippie.

Long Week

Andy came back home the 17th of August and he just left again on the 2nd of September. This time it is really hitting the kids hard. Madison keeps saying "Da Da" and Chase is always saying "Daddy went to work and on airplane". Chase can talk to Andy on the phone and they can have mini conversations, so it helps Chase out alot. We miss him but he will be back for Thanksgiving and then again for Christmas and his birthday which is in december. After that it won't be until April when we move to N.C. Which we all can not wait for. We need our own home and to all be together again.

For those of you that do not know what is going on...

Andy is still in Hawaii working, while the kids and I are in CA staying with my grandma so we can save the housing money the Navy gives us every month. That way when Andy gets out in July of next year, we have money saved and debt paid off. Its working so far.

It is something we have to do so Andy can be military free. He is thinking about joining the Navy reserves so we can keep our benefits and he can count on a little money from the military. But I don't want him to get deployed anymore and he doesn't want to either. He loves working in construction but not in the Navy. I just want him to be happy and not have to suffer anymore with the Navy. Lets keep our fingers crossed.



My grandmothers neighbored passed away on sunday, so I am going to the funeral on saturday. Then saturday night we are celebration Madison's birthday at my mom's. We have already had two other birthday's for Madison. Thats what you get when you have divorced parents. :)



Andy took his 1st class test today. I am hoping he passes, but if he doesn't its not a big deal because he will be getting out of the Navy anyways. I love him no matter what so he doesn't need to be worried about what I think. I know he is smart.



I am sad Andy is not here with us, so the TV has been my friend these last couple of days..haha.