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