Getting Older, Settled and Full

For the Getting Older Part: November 20, 2006

I've aged. I've entered the last year of my twenties. Where in the heck did the past 6 years go? Last time I checked I was 23. Seems since Baldy and I met, time has been moving at break-neck speed. So, on the 20th, I turned 29.
The day was a great way to usher in my new year- decent day at work and welcomed home by Baldy, an ever so excited 'B', sushi and 'happy cake', the latter crafted by the 'B' (and cause for the excitement, 'look Mommy I made you happy cake').












It was absolutely wonderful happy cake, crunchy due to the copious amount of sprinkles, but still delicious.







The 'B' actually did pretty well with the chopsticks while eating his dinner.



And of course he helped me blow out the candles.




As Baldy and I were eating dinner- we thought about what we were doing last year at this time. It was the 'B's and my last night in Germany, and we had dinner at our favorite local restaurant. Right off Rose Barracks there was this little place called the Seafood Restaurant. We ate there so much that they stopped handing us menus when we came in. They would just ask if there was any change to what we'd like (there never was) and brought the usual.

This is a picture of him our last night in Germany. I can't believe how much he's changed in a year. He still had curls and was just learning to run. Now he's flying off furniture, wrestling with the dog and reasoning with me. I love the shirt he's wearing. It says 'My Dad is Stronger than your Dad'. Wish I could find one in my size.

The Part About Getting Settled- November 21, 2006

On the 21st it was officially a year since the 'B' and I have been back in the states. On the 29th, it was a year for Baldy. We finally feel like our house is 'home'. We miss Germany, and I really miss Chicago, but we finally have settled into our home. The year flew by, and this year we will have our first real Christmas in our home. Last year everything was still enroute from Germany so we were staying with Baldy's parents.This year the outside lights started going up last weekend and the tree went up on the 4th. I say the outside lights started going up because it seems endless. Baldy feels the need to cover anything that will stand still in lights. You could probably see our house from space. Pictures to follow. He's been home from work in preparation for his elbow surgery next week. Lots of time on his hands equates to a clean home and new ideas of how to wire the dogs collar with lights. Can't complain about the house being clean, but I pray the dog makes it through the holidays unsinged.
It's been interesting to see all our Christmas stuff. We haven't seen it in three years. Our first year in Germany we had everything up, Baldy's parents came to visit and we did a bunch of traveling. The next year Baldy was in Iraq and the 'B' and I came to the States so he could meet the family. Last year, the move. We've been pleasantly surprised by the lack of broken stuff. Come to think of it, this will ony be the second time we've put up Christmas decorations since we've been married. Right after our wedding, we packed up for the move to Germany, and that was in November of 2002.

And Finally the Full- Thanksgiving 2006

This Thanksgiving was tough. I really missed everyone in Chicago. I was in AZ last Thanksgiving, but was happy the big part of the move was pretty much over that as long as I wasn't on a plane or in transit, I was thrilled. Baldy spent his Thanksgiving in the DFAC in Germany and finishing up the last few final 'clearing' things he had to do. This year was the first Thanksgiving Baldy and the 'B' have ever spent together, and the first in three that he and I have spent together.
Our first Thanksgiving together was a pretty funny one, in 2001. He was stationed at Ft. Hood, and I was in Chicago still. I had the long weekend off and hadn't seen him in a month, so I figured I'd see if I could find a cheap last minute ticket to Texas. Well, a few days prior he thought the same thing and had already bought a ticket and had secretly planned with my sister to come in to surprise me. Not knowing this, I jumped online at the library and found a sweet ticket that flew me from Chicago to Dallas with a hop right into the Killeen airport right next door to Ft. Hood, all for $100. I called my sister and told her I couldn't pass it up. She told me to just come home. I told her I wasn't leaving that library til she told me what was going on. Angry with my stubborness, but knowing I was going to buy it if she didn't spill, she told me Baldy was on his way from Texas to surprise me. I was so excited and wanted to surprise him by showing up at the airport to pick him up. My sister wouldn't let me. She was upset with me for making her tell the secret, and punished me by making me wait at the house with my nieces. Infuriated, I waited. When they walked in from the airport the youngest niece and I were reading a book on the couch. Baldy followed my sister up the stairway to where we were and expected this huge surprised rush of emotion. I looked up from the book and said, 'oh, hi honey', and kept reading. He was floored. He looked at my sister and said, "I gave up being at the Cowboys game for this?" Then I told him I was miffed that he one, tried to surprise me (I hate surprises) and two, I couldn't beat him at his own game because my sister was being mean. (yes you were). I got over it real quick, and apoligized. He's always been the romantic. I totally am not worthy of his romantic notions. Needless to say I felt much better when he told me he had paid over $500 for his plane ticket. That still gnaws at him. We had a great Thanksgiving that year. At that time we had no idea we'd be spending the next one with all our stuff on its way to Germany.

This year we were all together in AZ. Baldy's parents and sister's family are out here, and so is one of my sisters and her family, so we're fortunate to share time with family often. At the holidays though, I miss my parents house; full of people, louder than you could imagine. I miss having all the traditional Thanksgiving stuff, in addition to Dad's potato dumplings and saurkraut and my sister 'P's three different versions of cranberry sauce (the year she added dill was not my favorite). I miss playing card and dice games at the big table with them after dinner, fighting for a seat with any niece, who eventually takes up part of your lap if she can't find a suitable spot. This year, we celebrated my birthday and dinner with Baldy's side first. The 'B' was hanging in there until we sat down for dinner. With all the action happening he hadn't had a nap. So when dinner came around he took a few bites of turkey and then looked at me with those big blue pathetic 'I'm about to pass out' eyes. He spent the rest of dinner sleeping on the swing next to the table.
We ate outside, the weather was perfect.. After dinner and a little relaxation we went to my sister's to have dessert and celebrate my birthday again, along with my niece's, her dad's, his nephew's and the nephew's wife's birthdays. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving.

Finally- a post!

I've finally gotten my act together (enough to post anyway) and decided to begin posting.
I knew I wanted to post the 'B's Halloween pictures from this year and decided to look back on the past couple of years to see how he's grown. I say that like he's an old man. The kid is two. So here are his 1st, 2nd and now 3rd Halloween.
His first Halloween he was a leopard. He wore the costume all seven of my siblings and I wore, and 14 out of his 15 cousins wore. By the time we were lucky enough to call one my nieces our own, she was too big to wear the costume.
By the way, congratulations 'A' on finally being my brother's daughter legally. You've been ours since we met you- but are now lucky to have you wear our name as well!
As you can tell by the picture the 'B' was thrilled on his first Halloween. The night consisted of him wearing the costume, me taking a few pictures and then he fell asleep while I handed out candy. Baldy (aka Daddy) was in Iraq. The 'B' didn't even make an appearance in costume on web-cam that evening. He was just not into it.

Here's a picture of me in the same costume. I was almost a year old. The costume is now almost 50 years old.

The next year the 'B' was a dinosaur. They had a parade at the Child Development Center (daycare) on post. All of the infants were darling, but I cannot explain how cute he and the other walking infants were. That year I was the 'bad mommy'. He fell asleep on the way home from work and I woke him up to make him go trick-or-treating. Daddy was home from Iraq by this point and tried to convince me to let the poor kid sleep. Not a chance. We were living in Germany still and I had bought this costume online; it was going to be used! I love Halloween and I forced the 'B' to partake in the festivities. He walked (he had just learned to walk like two weeks prior, so it was more like; walk, trip, fall, recover, repeat...) up to two houses, ate a sucker, took a bath and then passed out.

This year was much more fun. We were back in the States, and the 'B' knows what candy is. I wanted him to be something cute again, but the boy, much like his mother, is very opinionated. We knew we had to let him pick out his own costume. We took him to the store and he picked Spiderman. He ran around the house for weeks before Halloween with this costume and mask on. Then, on the actual day, this was the only time he wore the mask. At least I got one picture. He played with friends, went trick-or-treating, had a great sugar high and then crashed at about 9:30 p.m. It was a good Halloween.

Today is Veteran's Day. It's a special day for Baldy and me.

Last year in July we came to the States to buy a home and visit family and friends. We bought our home, went back to Germany to pack up, and then finally moved back in November 2005. Between the purchase and the move, Baldy's parents installed a flag pole in front of our home. It was a welcome home gift. It was awesome to come back to the States to our new home with the flag flying in our yard. It was even more sweet since Baldy had just been home from Iraq for less than a year. We retired our flag in the last month or so since it had worn and frayed. We went out today with the intentions of buying a new flag to fly. We went to a particular store to buy a new one, and came home with everything but. Halfway home we looked at one another and went 'we meant to buy...uh...geez'. We really wanted to fly it today.

We have a bunch of people in our family who have served in the military. Both of our dads, his granddads, a few uncles and cousins, both of my brothers, my brother's wife, Baldy and I, we've all been in the military. For anyone who has served, and your families, thank you.