Getting ready for Daddy to come home!

That's what we've been doing the past few weeks, well, pretty much since the day he left out to sea. haha :) We miss Jake alot when he's not home, but we definitely don't like his snoring when he's here! He left the 1st of December and finally will get to come home on Friday! :) They're keeping him busy on the ship, that's for sure! Because of his exemplary attitude with certain things and the attention to detail that he has, he's been assigned to a certain group of sailor's laundry duties, cleaning/assembling/preparing the ice cream machine in the galley, and another thing that I can't remember at the top of my head, dangit. I'll have to add it tomorrow if I can remember what it was... So yes, he's staying very busy! We can't wait to have him back home!

Beckham is having a rough time with all the random boxes that are stashed all over the house, he doesn't understand that he can't see what's in them. (Just a little side note: Beckham is always the first one at the door when the door bell rings, and when we get a package, he goes straight to the kitchen to grab a knife to help me open it.) So the fact that he can't open the few that we've gotten (from my grandparents and a huge one from Jake's mom and dad) is confusing the heck outta him! :p

In case you haven't noticed, we are running a bit late on Christmas cards this year, but don't worry, they're headed into the mail soon. Those of you that have sent us cards already, thanks so much, it's so nice being able to see how much families have grown and all the cute little faces.

We're still loving it here in the cute, quaint little housing community. It's very cold and there hasn't been much snow yet, but it's nice and rainy! I went to go to my car a few nights ago and was greeted by 3 huge racoons, sitting right on my front porch! They jumped a little, I screamed and almost peed my pants, and then we spent the next 10 minutes or so scrambling to find my camera and keep the dog from barking at them and scaring them away. I was SO tempted to open the door to get a better picture of their beady little eyes that were staring at me, but the images of my face marred by their razor-sharp claws and their garbage-saturated faces coming at me and eating my nose off quickly made that thought leave my head. Why did I not know that they can open my trash cans and get into them, leaving the door shut behind them?! When I went to take some garbage out the next day, the bag that was already in there had been ripped open and pilfered through!

Hope that everybody is doing well in Utah and the other places that we have family. We miss you all terribly! The holidays are creeping up on us, only a few more days. Although, if you were relying on Beckham's chocolate advent calendar to tell you how many days are left until Christmas, tonight would be Christmas Eve, because he only has ONE left. Out of 24 pieces of chocolate, he ate 23 of them. Yesterday. No wonder his stomach hurts.

30 days?!

Oh boy. The countdown is on. ONE month until my sweet, handsome husband heads to Basic.
(Try saying that one 3 times fast!)

We've made a few trips to the Recruiters office in the past few weeks, to get things all squared away. I think with each new thing that happens and each new thing that's said makes it all sink in that the day isn't just coming, it's coming FAST.

• Medical release form - CHECK
• Holden's Birth Certificate - CHECK
• Beckham's Social Security Card - CHECK
• Physical fitness testing - CHECK
• Updated paperwork for Jake to sign - Going first thing tomorrow morning

It's coming. The day is really coming. I am not sure I can even begin to describe
the feelings that are running through my head, and I'm scared to even THINK of the
thoughts that are running through JAKE'S head. After all, HE is the one that's flying
to a city over 1400 miles away to go through Basic Training @ Great Lakes. I am so darn proud of him for making this choice for our family, and for being such a responsible person! I can't wait for the changes it will bring. Trust me, it will bring them... and it's going to bring them alot faster than I realized!

Baby Einstein

I love Baby Einstein! If it weren't for the single
Baby Van Gogh tape that I have downstairs,
I would have never gotten laundry done last night!
It was Holden's first time watching it, he was crying,
wouldn't eat, wouldn't fall asleep, so finally I decided to put it
into the VCR, and laid him down on the end of the bed,
hoping he'd see it and maybe be enthralled with it,
even if just for a few minutes! Sure enough, he stopped crying...
and started kicking his feet and moving his arms and making little noises.
I loved the few minutes of time I got.
(Even if it was to get some much-needed laundry folding accomplished!)

The scoop on us

We've been busy! (Well, Jake has!) He just got a new job. He now works graveyards at the Larry H. Miller Megaplex 20. It's been tough on him, he had 2 hours of sleep between Friday and Sunday. I know it's worth it, and he is always reminding me why he's working both jobs: "So you guys can have a good Christmas." or "So we can have more food in the fridge." It breaks my heart. I sometimes feel guilty that he's working so much and I do nothing but sit at home and play with the kids. I know that's how it's meant to be, it's just difficult. I am very proud of him for getting the second job, and it's tough, cause we rarely see/talk to one another. We are making it work though. :D He's my rock and I am so proud of him!

The kids are doing great!

Beckham is 34 months (on the 5th of December) now and he's such a wild child! He's an absolute busy body. Always into things, ruining things and always going, going, going! 100 miles an hour! There is so much he can do. So much he knows. It's insane how smart he is. He amazes me each and every day. I can't wait to see the look on Beckham's face when he opens his gifts on Christmas morning! He's at such a fun age this year. :)

Holden is 7 weeks as of yesterday! He's smiling allllll the time. He coos every now and then too! It's precious. We're trying to wean him from breast feeding, my Dr. said he's a baby that would be better off on formula, both for him, and for me, because he is making my body barely able to hold on to it's weight. It's tough. We just got formula added to our WIC checks, thankfully! I don't know what I would do without it. Yesterday, for 2 cans of Similac, it was just over $30.00!!!

I'm doing fantastic! I am just trying to work on getting my business running more smooth. I haven't had the chance to sit down and re-vamp my blog or get all my posts and pages in order, but hopefully I will soon! I am going to do a family photo shoot tomorrow and I am VERY excited! It was my Brother-In-Law, Mat that was going to take them, but he couldn't make it, so he asked me to take them for him! I was completely taken aback, so honored, and so completely stoked! I can't wait! We're doing the photos at The Mayan, a jungle-themed restaraunt, before it's opened up for the day. Jake and I are planning on purchasing a Nikon D90 with our tax refund, so this photo shoot will really help me get my foot in the door!