Our weekend and some other thoughts

I didn't really plan on blogging this week but I needed a break from the packing and the cleaning and needed to get my thoughts out. So here we are. I don't think it's really "hit" me that we're moving until today. Today I had my last MOPS (mothers of preschoolers, a group I've been a part of for 3.5 years) meeting and the goodbyes started.  And so did the tears. They came unexpectedly.  I've been telling myself that it's not goodbye yet because lucky us, we're coming back here in 2 months and get to do another round of goodbyes when we leave for Colorado. But I know that a majority of those people today I will not see again. I hate goodbyes. Absolutely hate them. I don't also really like change all that much. Which is kind of hilarious because as a military spouse you get a lot of those things.  

So today's been a little sad. Packing up our first home together, the house we brought both babies home from the hospital to, cleaning the rooms I spent so many hours rocking babies in, the kitchen where I learned to cook for a family of 4 in, the living room where my babies first learned to walk, and the bedroom where  I would sometimes cry myself to sleep and re-group myself during deployments. This house, we've been through a lot together. These past 4 years have been the craziest, hardest, and most wonderful years and I will forever remember this home as the one where we started our family.  I know that there's a chance that we may not sell this home and that we may come back to it in 2 months to only say goodbye to it again, but just in case I'm saying my silent goodbyes now.  I know that when we come back to Omaha I'll drive by this house, smile, and only remember the good times we had in it.  I can only pray for the next family that buys it that they have as many good memories in it as we have.

But enough of the heavy stuff! Just wanted to share a couple picture from our weekend too.

Saturday we went to Omaha's St. Patrick's Day parade.

It was a beautiful morning out!

Brady wasn't too sure of all of the politicians and Layla was scared of the loud noises but otherwise we had a fun time!

Layla did enjoy the candy

And Brady thought the politicians were ok once they started throwing candy at him

We finally painted our entryway gray to match the living room. Finally!! The previous owners had painted it green (which we didn't like but were too lazy to change)  and now it just looks so much better. We both said to each other, "Why didn't we do this years ago?!" 

This was the picture from when we first bought the house. The picture doesn't really do it justice, the green was pretty bad!

And this weekend we got Layla's first haircut and Brady's hair cut as well. She wasn't too sure at first.

Goodbye lady mullet!

But luckily she was very distracted by the bubbles.

I wish I got to sit in something that cool during my haircuts.

Brady and Layla giggling at each other

All done! She did great! It was just a little trim but her hair looks a lot better.

And then this kid always looks 10 years older after his haircuts

No more lady mullet!  In fact we all got our hair done this weekend, even the dog!

Monday we had doctor's appointments for both kids.  I figured we should get their well checks done now with the doctor they've had since birth. It was a little early but we made it work! Both kids are healthy, growing great, and did great at the doctor. So they both got St. Patrick's Day cookies. I told Brady to smile and this is what he gave me. I think he watches mommy have her picture taken a little too much, haha!

And then there's this guy. He shaved his mustache off so Brady picked out a rainbow cookie for him.  Nice pose too, Brian.

So that's it! You probably won't hear from me again until this weekend when we're (hopefully!) settled in Alabama.  I'm off to go do more packing and cleaning. Woohoo! :)

One Week Left

This week has seriously flown by and it's crazy that we only have 1 more week until we leave for Alabama!  We've been working like crazy to get the house ready. I would sit down at the computer this week to knock out a post but pretty much the second I'd sit down I'd be reminded of something that needed to be done and a post never got finished.  I'm thinking once we get to Alabama I'll have a lot more time to blog!  Other than getting the house ready we've had some pretty marvelous weather and we've been trying to get out and about doing some of our favorite Omaha things.

Brady's on spring break this week from preschool so we have spent lots of time at the park.

And we grilled out.

I bought a ton of wine for the trip since there's no Trader Joes there! Wahh!!  Let's just hope I make it to Alabama without drinking all of the bottles! Mostly joking.

More playing outside. Gotta love the much-needed sunshine!

We went to the zoo this week with friends and had a fun picnic while watching the sea otters.

Not going to lie, I got a little teary eyed leaving the zoo knowing we won't be back until the kids are much older. Our membership expires in April and for the first time in 3 years, we won't be renewing it. It's such a wonderful zoo and I'm so going to miss taking the kids to it.

I had one of my last friends monthly dinners last night. Luckily I'll be back for the May one but that'll be my last one. :(  Best part of the dinner: cotton candy after you pay your bill! Genius!

I took the kids for a hike at Fontenelle Forest this morning for probably one of our last hikes there.  They were so cute wanting to hold hands. But don't be fooled, the second we got in the car it was, "She hit me! Layla screamed in my ear!" All of that fun business.

Brady cracks me up with his posing and his winking in pictures. He's a silly guy.

I also got to take pictures for the latest homecoming. It was so fun to be on the other side of it and to watch all of the emotions around me.

Really, there's nothing sweeter than a military homecoming. So happy for everyone that returned!!

Aaand finally we've done mounds of packing and cleaning and have lots left to do. It's crazy how much crap you collect in 4 years. The big task this weekend is moving all of our big furniture into storage.  We're having the house staged and she's bringing in some furniture to make the house look all modern and nice-like. You mean my spit-upped on couch and my chairs with fingerprints all over them won't sell this house?  We're also painting this weekend too.  Although I'm not excited for the long drive next week I'm  excited to have all of the packing/cleaning done and pull away knowing the house is ready to be put on the market! 

 Have a relaxing weekend for me!! :)

Milkshakes, Playing Outdoors, Packing, and my feelings on March: Our Weekend

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  We had a pretty busy weekend and luckily were able to get a lot done packing-wise.  

Friday afternoon it was in the 40's. You know what 40's mean-busting out jackets and getting ourselves outside!

Layla was not impressed

They could seriously do this for hours.  Not sure what is so magical about those little cars but they sure do love them!

Brian was flying all day Friday (5am-8pm) so the kids and I had a movie and pizza picnic night. 

And we may have picked up shamrock shakes too. Such a good day for my diet.

Saturday morning the kids woke up bright and early and we had a ton to do so I threw let them outside to run some energy off. It was another nice day so they had some fun enjoying our backyard.

We've taken all of the pictures off the wall (sniff, sniff!) and have a lot packed up.

I went through the pantry and the fridge to make a "let's eat what we have" menu. Shucks we have a lot of muffin and cookie mixes, guess I better do some baking.

And this was me being creative. Peanut butter cookie mix with some leftover M&M's. Call me Martha Stewart.

Naptime came and as I was moving things from our bedroom to the garage I heard some commotion in Brady's room. He doesn't really nap all that much anymore but I expect him to be quiet until I come get him. I peeked in and caught this little nudist dude standing in his window butt naked. I happened to have the camera around my neck (taking pictures of our household goods) so I snapped some pictures because I didn't think Brian would believe me.  He's (Brady, not Brian) recently learned how to completely undress and dress himself so I think he was practicing that and got distracted by our neighbors doing yardwork out front.

Yeah bud, caught you. So neighbors, I apologize if you saw a naked little boy in our window. We had a niiice long talk about it.  

Then this little gal woke up and demanded we have a dance party.

And eat crackers and have a staredown. She won.

And then there's this guy. Can I just say now how loong of a month March is?  That mustache just makes him look like such a creeper.  Between him and the naked child in our window it's a wonder no one's called CPS.

Saturday night my friend Jessica and I got together to plan our roadtrip to Montgomery. 15 Hours. Yikes.

Sunday was another beautiful day. It got to 74!!  Annie and I went on a walk through the neighborhood. We almost got blown with the crazy winds but that's beside the point. 

We got a lot more done around the house so after naptime we took the kids to a local park.  We played on the playground for awhile and then walked over to the pinewood derby course.

Layla crossing the finish line!

And then we took the kids out for ice cream cones. I think Layla had forgotten what a cone was all about because she was beside herself excited.

So was Brady.

And then there was this guy who keeps tagging along. Why does he keep following us??? ;)

Have a great week! :)

Lacking Motivation

I've been in a blog slump lately. I feel like I have nothing to write about. You can only write so many posts about being stressed out before people say ENOUGH already!  So if anyone has any suggestions, I'd gladly take them! :)

So instead of being a debby downer about all that needs to be done (we leave for Alabama in 16 days...ahhh!) I will instead say what I am looking forward to in the coming months. 

1. Spring!  Spring will come early this year since we're traveling south.  I'm looking forward to warmer weather and being able to get these munchkins outside to run all of their energy off.  Our winter hasn't been too terrible compared to a lot of the country (just cold here) so I feel like I can't really complain but winter with children is tough. No one likes being cooped up. So spring, I am ready for you!

2. The Beach.  In Montgomery, we're just 2-3 hours away from some pretty great beaches.  Like Pensacola, Destin, and Panama City. It will be spring break time so we'll have to pick and choose and our beach trips accordingly but I absolutely love the ocean and can't wait to bring the kiddos to it!

Brian and I back in '08 at Orange Beach. This was our before kids, little stress days as you can tell by our baby faces.

3.  Day Trips. In Montgomery we're just hours away from a lot of southern cities that would make fun day trips. Like Atlanta, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Pensacola to name a few. Plus we're only 2 and a half hours away from where we were stationed in Mississippi so we can visit some friends there!

4.  Colorado!! When I used to visit Brian at the Academy I always told him how lucky he was that he got to live there. I was so jealous because Colorado is just such a beautiful state with so much to do outdoors.  I'm so excited to bring the kids there and expose them to all of Colorado's beauty.

Last time we were in Colorado Springs was in 2011, before Brian's first deployment. We brought Brady, (then 10 months old), Rascal, Brian and I on a little trip from Omaha to visit the Academy again.  I remember on that trip wishing that we'd be back there at some point, never did we think we'd actually be getting to live there!

So excited to go back to the AF Academy!

Excited to take these two (and  now Layla!) back to Garden of the Gods, hiking in the mountains, and so much more.

And to go skiing in Breckenridge. It's been many years since I attempted skiing there but I'm ready to try again and to teach our kids to be snow bunnies!

I'm off to go do some more work around the house. Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone! :)

Our Weekend

Another weekend came and  was gone in a flash!

  Friday we unpacked from our trip, tried to catch up on our missed sleep from Thursday's flight, and I worked on bridal shower stuff.

Friday night we went out with some friends as a last hurrah. There were 5 couples and we all got sitters for the night and it was so much fun to get out and spend time together.  One of our good friends left on a deployment today and 3 of those families (including us) are going to Alabama together so it really was the last time we'll all be together for a long, long time. It was a bittersweet night! I'm sad I didn't take any pictures, either!

Saturday I hosted a bridal shower for a dear friend, Annie. Her fiance was Brian's co-pilot for upgrade training and they're getting married this June. I've never done a bridal shower before and it was a lot of fun!

The theme was "around the clock". I'll blog more about it later, but it was such a fun theme!

Me with the beautiful bride to be!

Saturday night we watched movies as a family and I pretty much crashed.

On Sunday we did work around the house. I de-cluttered more, did a TON of laundry, and did some cleaning as well.

We have a lot of work ahead of us in the next couple weeks. We have to further de-clutter, clean and fix up the house in order to put it on the market, put a lot of our things in storage, and then pack and get ready for Alabama! Whew!  Now only if spring would come...that sure would make me more motivated to clean!