Fleeting Days...

Where has the summer gone?

As I sit for the first time in months enjoying the cross breeze blow through my place, I am fighting off the disappointment that summer is over...

I had a list a mile long of things we were going to do, and even though we did a lot, played a lot and laughed more than I can tell you, still I am sad.

The saying the days are long but the time is short is so true. Pete works long hours and many days out of town so there have been days where I am counting down the seconds till the kids are sleeping and I am sipping. However, as I look back, I know that these are the days I will miss the most.

So I am going to finish my cup of coffee that I poured this morning, relish nap time and go sit on the back steps in the sun...because soon it will be gone too...




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Happy Mother's Day

My day got off to a less than thrilling start.

I have to say that watching Pete walk back into the house with not just part of breakfast but also part of my Mother's Day gift that he had just bought was a little crushing. It just added to the feelings that I have had lately of being the last on the list, almost invisible...

But Mother's Day isn't about him, it's about these two cute munchkins



I am a Mom because of them, thanks to them I know what unconditional love is and the how's and why's of putting someone else's needs in front of mine...

The excitement on Benton's face when he came in with my balloon and the great care Nina put into decorating my card is what it is really all about...



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Makes you realize

My parents have come in for a visit for Easter (yeah!).


We are having a great time.


Nina has loved showing off our new city and all the fun things it has to offer...


However, having them here make me realize just how great it would be to live closer to family.

We have started thinking about our next transfer (yes, already!). I am completely torn. Part of me wants to go back to Charleston, but realistically one can never really go home. Would we still like it there? A lot has changed in the seven years since we left. While I would be beside myself that we wouldn't have a very long ride in order to visit them, and trips to see my inlaws would be a lot closer as well...





On the other hand I would jump at the opportunity to live in a completely new area (even out of the country) a short list includes:
*California
*Hawaii
*Europe
*Purto Rico
And the list goes on and on...

Ahh who knows...two more years before we really have to think about what to do, a lot can change in two years.

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Sighs of contentment

We have had a busy past few weeks with all the Mardi Gras celebrating and then our trip to Disney (more on those to come-I promise!)--throw in the time change right at the end and to say that my kids are DOG tired would be an understatement.

Last night was a late night for all of us because we were invited to a shrimp boil down in Lockport. So after we got the kids home and bathed it was after 10 pm. So I made an executive decision at 4am that we were NOT getting up early today to take Nina to school. That's right folks--we played hookie! :-)

Everyone slept in, we had a great breakfast, and then off to the Monkey Room for a morning of climbing fun. Then lunch with friends and then home for nap--I am pretty sure it will be a long one from both because over the monitors you can hear the sweet sighs of contentment coming from both rooms every so often. It is one of my favorite sounds to hear, followed closely by the sounds of their laughter as they play together...wish every day went like this...but alas I am sure after naps it will be back to the crazy way it is around here. So I will enjoy it while I can.

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Vacation

This past week we took the kids to Disney...there will be a follow up post but I wanted to share my favorite picture from the trip



This was taken the last night while we were waiting for our food...I think this sums up the trip...the kids got along great and played until they couldn't last any more :-D

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Most of the time I am pretty good about rolling with whatever Pete's job throws at me...MOST of the time.  Today is not one of those days...I have had a sick household for almost a solid 3 weeks and I have to say I miss the days in NC when my husband was home at a decent hour at night or my Mom could come for a few days if I was at the breaking point...So excuse the rant to follow.

When we put in for this job here in NOLA I was expecting something a lot different than what we got...I thought that with Pete finally going back to a desk job that he would finally be home on a regular basis. That he would be home to have dinner most nights, if the kids had something going on he would be able to attend, boy was I wrong.  It is currently 10:30 at night and he hasn't even left the office...

I knew that this position involved some travel but since the New Year he has already had to travel half way around the world..somewhere that involves him being eligible for hazard duty pay (which I have to tell you, $250 really isn't enough to help me sleep soundly at night). We had about a 10hr time difference so he calls before he heads to bed (dead tired on his feet) and then again very early in the morning (not my best time by a long shot) so we didn't really talk since he left. It is tough to try to keep him up to date with what we are doing in the 5 mins that we talk twice a day.

Needless to say, I am not excited to find out that he will be heading back again for an entire month...at least. 

Come ON already...I would prefer going back to a cutter at this point, at least then when he was gone, we had a heads up and a pretty good idea of when he would be home, and when he was in port he was home by 6pm most nights...Maybe we can put in for an early transfer? Hmmm...

Do you ever...

Do you ever just miss being close to people that love and care for you?

Being a Military wife means that, at times, that is a rare thing...since getting married to Pete 6 &1/2 years ago we have not lived closer than a 7 hr drive from either of our parents. I talk to people who have family close and all I can say is that I am genuinely jealous.

Not always do they know how good they have it, or how hard it would really be if they lived farther away, especially when you add kids to the situation.

My younger brother and his wife are expecting their first child this summer and they live about 15 miles from my parents...sigh.

Go away ugly green monster--you are not helping me make the best of our time in New Orleans...

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Helpless...

Nothing pulls at this Momma's heart more than a sick child...

As I sit here with Nina waiting to see the Doctor again I have to wonder how we ended up sick, AGAIN...

She is in a wonderful preschool here in NOLA that she loves...

However, the only drawback is that the majority of the parents, for whatever reason, feel that it is ok to send their not so well child to school...

So on more than one occasion when helping out in the classroom I have had to wipe a disgusting green snotty nose or remind a little one to please go wash their hands that they just coughed into, GROSS!

I know that I can't imagine sending my child to school when they are feeling under the weather, (Nina missed an entire week last week for this very reason!)

I feel so sorry for the kids, you can tell just by looking at them this is the last place they want to be...

So hey, parents, do everyone involved a favor, keep your poor, sick kid home till they are no longer contagious and they feel up to being back in school...ugh.


Ok I feel better now, off to go whip up a pot of chicken soup...

When Push comes to Shove...

It is no secret that I am not a home body...I get stir crazy after a few days being stuck at home, and it doesn't matter the reason.

This has not been the nicest weekend weather wise. it has been pretty cool and damp--YUCK!

Today it was raining ALL DAY LONG and since it is Sunday most kid play places are closed.

So, let's just say, I ran out of ways to entertain the kids before nap time...


Check out what I came up with...

They loved it! :)

Never grow up...

With Nina turning 4 and Benton starting to walk and talk I am finding that I am super emotional about them growing up. I try hard not to wish away each stage that they are in because they grow and change so fast it is heart stopping.

I was given a CD this Christmas from Pete that has a song titled Never Grow Up...the first time I heard it searing hot tears sprang to my eyes...It is that dead on about how I feel about my babies growing up...

Benton is starting to sleep more regularly through the night, nurse with less frequency and started walking on Christmas night--really walking--he almost never crawls anymore and the days of him belly crawling are a distant memory. He comes up with a new word at least weekly...Over the weekend I gave him a big boy haircut. It took all the curl and almost all the blond out of his hair--he looks so much older now!

Nina is getting more independent all the time, she is starting to really want to help me around the house. She loves to help me cook or bake, if I pull out the vacuum she insists on helping, and she has helping fold some of the laundry down pat :) She is turning into such a sweet young lady...

I guess what I am trying to remind myself is, no matter how long the day is, the years are short...try to take it all in.

2010 was a year of change here in the Morisseau house...
we had just recently added a new member to our family, making us a gang of 4
in January we celebrated Nina's 3rd birthday

February brought a wonderful snow day

March was full of dancing and dress up fun

April took a lot of weight off my shoulders

May brought us tutus and flowers and our 6th Anniversary

June was full of grass stains
July
August we found fishes and boxes galore


September was spent exploring a new city, starting new "projects" and watching Pete get pinned Lt. Commander



October brought us goodbyes, pumpkins and 1st Birthdays
November was full of ballet princesses, family and thanksgiving
December was a quiet family Christmas...just the 4 of us and it was good :)

Growing like a weed!

Next week my baby boy will be 9 months old! Where in the world has the time gone? In the last month he has started scooting and rolling all over the place (his favorite place to visit is under his seat to see if he can help himself to any leftovers from breakfast), cut his first two teeth, is finally sleeping through the night and has developed an appetite fit for a Moose :) This boy can EAT! I am starting to loose sleep over the fact that I may need to get a job to be able to afford to feed him in a few short years!

Benton is one of the happiest babies that I have ever been around, up until last month he would wake up at about 3am most nights to practice his "singing". He would wake up and coo, blow raspberries, and talk until I would go in and nurse him back to sleep...but every time I go into his room and peer over the side of his crib he gives me the biggest smile like I have hung the moon. It melts my heart every time! I say often that if he wasn't so cute and sweet I might give him away in the middle of the night. Momma likes her sleep!

I am already missing his big toothless grin, the little pearls of white peeking into his smile makes him look so much older already! Nina didn't get any teeth until she was 13 months old so it was a huge shock when I stuck my finger in his mouth to give him a bite of something and had to draw back in pain from him biting me. The other reason that it was such a shock is that he wasn't fussy! About 2 weeks before he cut his first tooth I bought him a baltic amber teething necklace in hopes that it would help with the inflammation in his gut from his dairy allergy...Well all I can say is WOW! I didn't even have a clue he was cutting a tooth until he did! I am sold!

I know that before long he will be chasing his big sister all over the place, I just hope that I have enough energy to keep up with both of them! If only he can hold off on the real crawling until after I have the new place at least mostly baby proofed...A mom can dream, right?

The Countdown...

Most days I don't have many complaints about being a military wife, I have a great husband who's job affords me the opportunity to stay home with our two great kids. Job security, and a touch of adventure thrown in for good measure...

However, this patrol is KILLING me! Every little thing has me ready to blow my top! I have no patience for the little things that Nina is pulling on a regular basis, the animals are driving me nuts and Benton won't sleep, the list go just go on and on...

This is the longest patrol that we have had here in Wilmington (and still not over yet!) and came right on the heels of the birth of our second child. While I was still trying to wrap my head around having two kids to get up and out of the house in under two days, Pete deploys. ARGH! Talk about perfect timing.

He left just before Nina's 3rd Birthday--which she refuses to acknowledge until Daddy comes home to celebrate by the way...and there still isn't a firm return date as of yet...so we can't even start a real countdown.

I am not really sure what has me all spun up during this patrol, maybe it is adjusting to 2, not having a firm return date, or the stress of transfer season but whatever it is I hope that I can get a hold on it soon!

What to do about Lent?

First off, a disclaimer, I am not Catholic, I am what I would call religious. I believe in God, Heaven and Hell and grew up attending a tiny Baptist Church in the south that I later got married in.

When I went off to college I occasionally attended Mass with my friends because they were the only ones who attended church on any regular basis...This is where I first learned about lent. I fell in love with the concept and was sad that the Baptist did not observe it so this is where I decided that not one type of Christian religion was for me, I sort of mish-mash a bunch of different things together

Hence why I observe lent...the only problem is that today is Ash Wednesday and even though I have tried to decide what to commit to I can't come up with something that I can get behind.

One year ( I think I was 22) I gave up booze, another I gave up Wal-Mart, some years I commit to doing something but this year I am at a loss. I have already started working out and eating better so that is out...I just don't know.

Maybe I will commit to doing one act of kindness for someone else a day, that would give me a chance to touch someone else and lift up my spirit as well. That is it! I am committing to this for the next 40 days, I will update this and keep track of how well I do. :)

Military Wife

Lots of moving...
Moving...
Moving...
Moving far from home...
Moving two cars, three kids and one dog...all riding with HER of course.
Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house;
Moving curtains that won't fit;
Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours.
Moving away from friends;
Moving toward new friends;
Moving her most important luggage: her trunk full of memories.

Often waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting for housing.
Waiting for orders.
Waiting for deployments.
Waiting for phone calls.
Waiting for reunions.
Waiting for the new curtains to arrive.
Waiting for him to come home,
For dinner...AGAIN!

They call her 'Military Dependent', but she knows better:
She is fiercely In-Dependent.

She can balance a check book;
Handle the yard work;
Fix a noisy toilet;
Bury the family pet...

She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts.
She can file the taxes;
Sell a house;
Buy a car;
Or set up a move...
.....all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.
She reinvents her career with every PCS;
Locates a house in the desert, The Arctic, Or the deep south.
And learns to call them all 'home'.
She MAKES them all home.

Military Wives are somewhat hasty...
They leap into:
Decorating,
Leadership,
Volunteering,
Career alternatives,
Churches,
And friendships.
They don't have 15 years to get to know people.
Their roots are short but flexible.
They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other:
They connect over coffee,
Rely on the spouse network,
Accept offers of friendship and favors.
Record addresses in pencil...

Military Wives have a common bond:
The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands; his commitment is unique.
He doesn't have a 'JOB'
He has a 'MISSION' that he can't just decide to quit...
He's on-call for his country 24/7.
But for her, he's the most unreliable guy in town!
His language is foreign
TDY
PCS
OPR
SOS
ACC
BDU
ACU
BAR
CIB
TAD
And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.
She is the long- distance link to keep them informed;
the glue that holds them together.

A Military Wife has her moments:
She wants to wring his neck;
Dye his uniform pink;
Refuse to move to Siberia;
But she pulls herself together.
Give her a few days,
A travel brochure,
A long hot bath,
A pledge to the flag,
A wedding picture,
And she goes.
She packs.
She moves.
She follows.

Why?
What for?
How come?
You may think it is because she has lost her mind.
But actually it is because she has lost her heart.
It was stolen from her by a man,
Who puts duty first,
Who longs to deploy,
Who salutes the flag,
And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military Husband,
She will remain his military wife.
And would have it no other way.

--Author Unknown

Winter in NC??

Normally winter in the south does not involve snow, it doesn't even really involve too much freezing weather even...so for there to be snow in the forecast for last weekend was shocking!

This past weekend it snowed here in Wilmington, not just a dusting of snow but 5 inches of snow! It started Friday night after my parents arrived to spend Valentine's Weekend with us and didn't stop until Saturday morning.

We had just been up in Rhode Island with Pete's family before Christmas and Nina loved playing in all the snow there so I knew that I was in for some work! :) Friday at about 8 pm when the snow started to fall I bundled Nina up and harassed my Father into joining me out in the cold. We put Daisy the Dog on a leash and off we went to check it out. We walked and Nina ran all the way down and around the cul de sac with a quick stop at Bob and Lois' (no trip around the cul de sac is complete without a stop there) Nina was ecstatic with the thought of the fun that was to come, so needless to stay it was so hard to get her to go to bed!

Saturday morning was off to an early start, Nina woke up at 5 am and wanted to go out to play--I took her to potty and let her look out the windows and the front door however I am NOT a morning person so it was back to bed for her for at least another 3 hrs...the snow could wait.

About 9 Nina was back up again and Benton was just finishing up his morning nursing session so it was back to bed for him and a fast warm breakfast for the rest of us before hitting the snow! After breakfast we grabbed the disc that Nancy gave me when she found out that I had never been sledding that I can remember and hit the small hill behind the neighbor's house...

Nina wasn't really into sledding so she promptly moved on to starting a snowball fight...She pegged me, Mom, Dad and Daisy within the first few throws! She was having a blast--squealing and laughing up a storm.

After playing for a bit she was ready to build Frosty, and yet again this is a first for me...we started in the back yard rolling the balls and there is a small incline--but let me tell you, that small incline was kicking my butt!! This was really wet snow, and wet snow is great for snowballs and snowmen but WHOA is it heavy! We made a HUGE snowman and then were promptly put to work trying to find this Frosty accessories...He ended up with one of my sun hats, green leaves for eyes, a baby carrot nose and pine bark for a mouth...he only lasted about 1/2 the day :( much to Nina's dismay
We ended up playing outside for about 2 1/2 hrs before I decided that Nina should go back inside to warm up/get dry--we don't own snowsuits! Since we were out for so long Mom decided that she had enough fun and headed back in to spend time with Benton...when he woke up from his morning snooze she brought him to the door to check out the fun

Why Start a Blog???

I have been playing around with the thought of starting a blog for a while and I finally took the plunge because I now have 2 kids that are growing at the speed of light, and a husband that is sadly missing lots of it. My husband, Pete, is in the Coast Guard and is stationed on a Ship that deploys for about 2 months at a time and he was missing out on so much that I thought that this would be an easy way for me to give him a glimpse into our everyday life while he is gone.

Nina is our firstborn, and is a spitfire in every sense of the word! She recently turned 3 but is refusing to acknowledge this until her Daddy is home to celebrate her big birthday. No matter how many times she has been asked how old she is since January she answers: "2--I will be 3 when my Daddy comes home for our birthday." Pete has promised her that they will have a big birthday celebration when he gets back, I wonder, do I have to buy her more birthday presents??...

Benton is our baby, he was born in October and is my real motivation for this blog...He has changed so much since his Daddy has left, I am sure that Pete will be shocked at how much bigger he is and all that he is doing when he gets home. When Pete left Benton was still spending most of his day happily snoozing away wherever we put him...now, Not So Much! He has found his voice (which he practices using at 4am every morning for about an hour), his fingers (which he chews on like he is going to cut teeth tomorrow!) and spends most of his day watching and laughing at his big sister.


Tonight I have time to work on starting this blog because Nina is at my Parents for a few nights. They came up to NC to see all of us for Valentine's Day and when they were getting ready to leave today Nina begged them to take her with them...so after about 2 hrs of trying to convince her to stay here, they gave in and I packed her suitcase! When I told Pete about her going for a few nights he was amazed that she was mature enough to make this kind of decision on her own...She really is growing up fast.

Hopefully she will have a great time at my parents and I will have a short break to recharge and be the great Mommy that I strive to be on a daily basis when they bring her back. :)

So here I sit with just one child again...wow, it is soooo much easier! LOL He is already in bed for the night! I celebrated my little break from being a Single Mom of 2 with a trip to Target during "nap time"! Let's keep our fingers crossed that I haven't just cursed myself to a night of every hour on the hour waking...