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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Since we moved...

June has been a wild and crazy month so far. We moved the last week of May and spend several days following getting the old house ready to turn back over to the landlords. To say that I've never been more ready to get out of a place and get away from a landlord, is the understatement of the decade. The second night we were in the new house, the landlord (knowing we weren't staying at the house) decided it was perfectly acceptable to just go in the house without our knowledge. That just so happens to be totally illegal in case you were wondering. Trespassing anyone? I had left the alarm armed, so of course it went off and drama ensued. Not only did we not receive an apology, she later demanded we let her have free run of the house for TWO full days to do general maintenance that is normally done after a tenant vacates, on top of several other days she had already spent in and out fixing things. The landlord did not leave herself any time to make changes because she started the new tenants lease the day after ours ended. Does this give you some idea of some of the ridiculous things we had to deal with for 2.5 years? Again, understatement of the decade. 
Gray on moving day.
Gray was not a fan of the house hunt, but he is a huge fan of the "new house." He loves that he can go from his room to the living room without having to take a parent with him. He is also in love with the yard and the play ground about 6 houses up from ours. This was his 3rd move in three years (from Florida to North Carolina to California to this house), but the first one that he remembers I'm sure. He seems to be right at home here like we never moved.
Memorial Day. Loving the new backyard! 
Brothers. One is a lot more relaxed than the other. :)
Now a month after we moved down to the beach, we are mostly unpacked (4 boxes remain). It would all be done by now, but I'm going through everything as I put it up to throw out and donate things that we don't need or use anymore. We downsized a lot when we moved into this house and there isn't room for all the crap we have been lugging around the USA. If you steer clear of the guest room (where I'm hiding the boxes), I think it looks pretty put together. Curtains and hanging the rest of the pictures is next on the to do list! 

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Busy Weekend.

Several Marines from Josh's squadron came home from a 7 month deployment last Thursday. I couldn't miss my friend's spouses homecoming, so Gray and I went to the squadron to join the festivities. Gray was wearing his cammies and his Daddy's wings, so as Gray left the house he waved and said "I'm going to work."
Too cool for pics with Mommy. 
If you ever have the chance to go to a military homecoming, I would highly recommend it. I haven't ever been to a homecoming where I didn't cry. I tend to be a cryer anyway, but how can you NOT get a little misty when seeing people reunited for the first time in months? I know how excited I was the day Josh got home, but seeing my friends reunited with their husbands is almost as good as if it were my own day to celebrate. There is nothing more special than that first hug and kiss after so much time apart. The days before Josh came home felt like I was getting ready for our wedding with all of the anticipation and excitement in the air. Deployments aren't fun, but homecomings are so amazing they almost make you forget about all the things that he missed or that you had to deal with alone. Almost. 
Legoland!
At the last minute we backed out of our plans to go to the SD Fair because it was a beautiful Saturday and I didn't really want to brave the crowds. We opted for Gray's favorite place on earth, Legoland. This kid loves Legoland almost as much as he loves us. It's nice to have something that he loves so much just 25 minutes up the road. He has been begging to go back since before we got to the parking lot Saturday afternoon. 
Leaving church. 
We left church Sunday afternoon and Gray just HAD to "sit on the rock." He made this crown in Sunday School (which people in California have apparently never heard of before) and wore it for an extended amount of time Sunday and he continues to talk about it. Josh and I are still driving inland to an amazing church a friend told me about just before Josh deployed. Oh man is it the best church ever! It takes us around 30 minutes to get there from our new place, but we always learn something and get so much out of the services that we just can't switch to a closer church. If you are looking for a place to worship in San Diego, look no farther! 
First ride on the beach cruiser! 
And finally, we bought beach cruisers a couple of weeks ago. We were waiting to ride them until Gray had a seat and helmet. I finally picked them out and placed an order. Josh installed the seat and as soon as Gray got on it he decided it was a death mobile. He started screaming that he wanted to ride in the car. He wanted to walk. He was "so scared." I told Josh we should just ride around for a minute and see if he warmed to the idea that we weren't going to kill him and within a few minutes he was laughing and having a blast. We rode down to the beach and once we got home Gray said riding the bike was his "favorite." 

Maybe this coming weekend we will hit the SD Fair and try something fried, like deep fried cereal...

Kennedy!

I'm over the moon about the newest addition to our family, but still quite bitter about not having the chance to meet her yet. My sister and her husband, Bob, brought this little beauty into the world about 6 weeks ago. Isn't' she amazing?

Kennedy Reese was born on May 15th. She weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 inches long. Her two big sisters weighed the exact same at birth, so that's kind of fun. She has tons of black hair and blue eyes for the moment. She is sleeping a lot and such a sweet baby as far as I can tell. Gray loves Claire's new "baby sister" and I wish we were there so he could hold her and give her kisses. 

OK. OK. Maybe I'm the one who wants to hold her and give her kisses. Gray is really starting to love babies and he is so cute when he sees or hears a baby. He did have a moment of confusion when we first saw some pictures of Kennedy because he thought her name was "Kenny." Otherwise I'm watching her grown via pictures until I can get home to hold her! If anyone wants to help fund a trip to Mississippi, I'm open to donations! 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Dentist

Gray is officially a big kid. He has successfully completed a trip to the dentist, so I'm pretty sure he can't be a baby anymore. He finally has all of his teeth and I thought that he was finally ready to tolerate a trip to the dentist. While Gray being old enough to go to the dentist makes me kind of sad, his entertainment value has gone through the roof and I guess that's the trade off. Babies are cute and cuddly but 3 year olds are hilarious. 
Smiling getting his teeth cleaned with a smile!
He got to pick a prize.
We were referred to a great pediatric dentist here in SD, and Gray did GREAT on his first trip! He let them do x-rays and clean his teeth, which I am still in a little shock over. I did find out that we aren't supposed to be using 'trainer' toothpaste anymore, so it's good that we went when we did. I wonder if the next trip will go this smoothly...