Getting Back to Blogging

I just looked at the last time that I blogged and it was just over 2 years ago. WOW! Where does the time go? I am getting back into the blogging world to keep the family up to date on our lives. I can post pictures here and those who I want to see them can. My biggest reason for coming back to this is: I am fed up with Facebook and the crazies on there that make you want to just give up on humanity. I can agree to disagree with most anything but others take it as a stance to HATE you if you don't agree with their ideas. I will see what Cody wants to do but I would just like to close up our account. I am pretty sure he will feel otherwise. In his defense he believes that since he has truly served our cournty in three deployments and in our daily lives that he has the right to put his ideas out there. I agree but the pure hatred that comes out of people (via Facebook) is just more than I care to tolerate anymore. The biggest reason I have stayed with it so long is to see my family and friends that I never get to see in real life because of distance. I guess I will be finding other means to keep in touch. Anyway, let me do a brief synopsis of our last two years (ha) and I will post some pictures. Last post was March 2011, just weeks before Cody left on his third deployment (second to Afghanistan). I was just about to find out that I was pregnanat with our fourth child, Paul Atticus. We were stationed in Ft Lewis, WA and living in Yelm Terra (the best neighborhood ever. :)) Cody left in April My parents came out for a visit in June: We took a trip down to Oregon where we did a train ride and enjoyed the scenery and had some of the best cherries ever. In July my mother-in-law, Linda, came to visit for the month. It was a nice break and gave me some company in those early months of deployment. While she was there we visited Seattle briefly and I learned the basics of crochet. Fourth of July was also a wonderful celebration with friends in Yelm Terra minus the few near misses by fireworks. August: Luke started 1st grade at Mill Pond Elementary and Charlotte started preschool at ABC Academy. I also started watching Miss Adelyn for my friend, Hannah. September: I turned 30 and my best friend, Nicole, flew out for a visit. It was lovely getting to spend some time with her. Mid October I was out to there pregnant and running short on temper and energy. My dad flew out mid-October to stay with me and help out until Cody came in or his R&R and the birth of Paul. I am sure a favorite memory for my dad was the day we decided to go picking pumpkins at the farm. It was so muddy and just a miserable time but the kids loved it. My other great memory was the Mill Pond Fall Festival, I think daddy will forever be claustrophobic from that experience. :) Halloween came and the kids and I trick-or-treated with the Ray/Simon family. Early November and I was about to have a baby. Cody made it in the day after daddy flew home. (I know daddy was glad that I didn't have a baby on his watch.) We had a nice few days of getting to spend time together (appple donuts at the farm) and before we knew it my c-section day was there. On November 8, 2012 we welcomed Paul Atticus into our family. The next two weeks were a blur of getting into a new routine with baby. Cody was able to get his time extended for an extra 10 days which was a warm welcome. Joe, Linda and Uncle Chad came out for Thanksgiving holidays and Charlotte's birthday. To this day the kids still are ecstatic over the Mickey Mouse pancakes and the number 5 pancake that Uncle Chad made them. By the end of November Cody had to head back Afghanistan. First of December my parents timed it right so that they were able to trade off a car with my in-laws at the Seattle airport (keeping me from driving up there with all four kids). We had a lovely visit and Mom & Dad helped me set up for the holidays. Unfortunately, they were not able to stay through Christmas. The kids and I enjoyed a low-key Christmas day together and by New Years we were excited to be celebrating with Yelm Terra Friends. We did a "progressive" party among my house, the Ray house and the Flannagan house. We rang in the New Year with pots and pans, honking horns, bagpipes and a drum solo. It was great. Mary Catherine and I started the C25K program early December. January 2012 was a month full of running and starting the Insanity workout. It was wonderful (not the workout) having a friend next door that was willing to workout with me. Somewhere in here we were out of power for 4 days which was quite the experience with four little ones and no Daddy to do all the messy work like shoveling the drive. In February we had the mother/son dance and later that month Nicole came out for a second visit. We were heartbroken when my brother, Mark and his wife, Paige lost their little Caroline Grace at 23 weeks pregnant. Mary Catherine, Kim Combs and I ran the St Patty's Day 5k in March and didn't do too shabby. April was full of deployement ending nesting. Mary Catherine and I weeded the whole front garden area and got the house in ship shape before Cody finally got home at the very end of April. He made it home in time for his 29th Birthday and a welcome home celebration. The weeks passed quickly after he got home. We were able to take a trip down to Oregon to a wonderful cabin. We did hikes and just enjoyed our time away while his mother, Linda watched the four crazies back at home. Truly the summer was a blur of just family time, friend time and nothing to do but enjoy everyone being back together. Somewhere in there Cody bought a Harley and to my surprise bought one for me too. This lead to two more neighbors getting bikes and the start of the Yelm Terra bike club. We had a scare when we were sent to the Children's Hospital in Seattle with Paul and concern over the frontal ridge of his skull. Thankfully it was all worked out and the concern turned out to be nothing. We were also thankful for a uneventful corrective surgery that Mark needed. Unfortunately, as the Army would have it, we came up on orders for Cody to report to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. We spent the last little bit of our summer enjoying friends, the 4th of July festivities and a big going away party for us and two of our good neighbors (Dan to Afghanistan and Paul to Pakistan). In September we made our way to California. We met a wonderful family (Bissonette's) that were about to leave the area and we were able to rent the home they were currently renting. This allowed us to get the kids in school at Forest Grove where Luke went into 2nd grade and Charlotte went into Kindergarten. After living in lodging for nearly a month we moved into our house the last of September. Mom and Dad made it out in October where we had fabulous weather and were able to see the Hearst Castle in San Simeon and also made a trip to San Francisco....those hills are no joke. We also checked out lots of local scenic areas and thrift stores. Cody also officially started his school down here and was up to his eyeballs in a new language. In November, Linda was able to make it out for Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful meal that we shared with the Semanisins. Mom was able to come out again in December to help me out for a bit. No lie with Cody's intensive schooling and my new environment I was having a hard time adjusting. I really missed my friends and babysitters in Washington State. With lots of Dr. visits (one that ended up with hospital visit breathing treatment for Mark) I was thankful that mom could help out for a bit. Cody surprised me with tickets home to Alabama for New Years so Christmas day we made our way cross country to the big Sundquist/Krieger New Years extravaganza. We all had a wonderful time. We were also able to get down to see my Grandmother Oldham. It was a blessing to get to see her again as she passed just a few short weeks later on Feb. 18th. January 2013-Present. Cody is still up to his eyeballs in language, I am up to my eyeballs in kids and the daily tasks that need to get done but we are enjoying life. Luke is starting baseball which has been a real treat and the kids are just happy and healthy. You can't ask for much more than that. (Although the newest Sedlacek addition is pretty great too) Chad and Sam had their first baby, Charlie just a week ago and he is precious. Things we are looking forward to: In June Mom and Dad are making a trip out to visit. We are going to WA state for the 4th of July festivities and we also plan to hit up the Redwood Forest on the way back. Linda plans to come out in July for a visit and we hope to have maybe another visitor or two over the summer/early fall.