::Ahem::

Mic check, Mic check... 1, 2, 3...

Is this thing on?

::swats at cobwebs in the corner::

Sigh. Well, this little corner of the internet - my little corner of the internet has been tugging at the corner of my mind for a while now.

I miss this place. In my head I was going to utilize this space so much more this year, (like for a birth story for goodness sake) but...for reasons that we will talk about another time, that wasn't meant to be.

And I have thoughts rolling around that must get out, and it turns out preschoolers and infants don't really want to hear about it, so here.

I'm gonna jump right in the deep end.

Stay tuned.

Snapshots of Six

Today, I have been a wife for 6 whole years.

Shortly after I became a wife, my brand new husband deployed.

And we bought our bungalow of dreams.

After he came home, we relished in married life for a bit.

Before long, I became a Momma.

And then again.

And then we moved to Japan.

And then my husband deployed again.

And came home.

And then one more time, I became a Momma.

And then my husband answered the call of his country one more time.

So this year, we are spending our anniversary apart for the first time. It is a sort of strange and surreal experience today as I just sort of clean and do my normal Friday routine.

{I'm crossing my fingers for a romantic email from him later.}

Our marriage has been one adventure after another, and I know that we are only at the beginning.

I can't wait to embark on a thousand more.



Evelyn Rae is 3 (but 'really almost 4, Momma'), Liam is 2 (and is 'a big kid for really, Mom'), Patrick will be 3 months tomorrow

…and with a deployed husband and no adult to regularly externally process to, I am beginning to annoy myself with my increased frequency of Facebook and Instagram posts. (Who knew that was possible?)

So, you may be seeing a bit more of me over here.

I do have a birth story to share, after all. ;)

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Happy St. Paddy's Day…

…from our THREE little leprechauns!

That's right, Patrick John made his appearance a little bit early on March 13 at 1:47pm, clocking in as my itty bittiest baby at only 8 pounds, 5oz and 19.25" long.

(His sister was 8'11" and brother was 8'12" - both 20.5" long… it's funny how those 6ish ounces didn't really make a difference in the level of Holy-Shizz-what-was-I-thinking??ring-of-fire moment.)

His birth was unlike either of my others, but was ultimately fantastic and brought me this new, dark haired, cheeks for weeks, tiny guy to snuggle and love.

His Daddy and I were both very thankful he chose to come a few days early, because Patrick had indeed been our chosen boy name for…well, forever, and then when we found out that we were due on St. Patrick's Day with G3…we wondered if we could really do that to a kid.

Though, his Daddy did thoughtfully point out that he would be very popular in his fraternity someday. Sigh.

Thankfully, we were able to avoid that particular conundrum.

Happy Due Date to my newest little love, and a Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone!



Evelyn Rae is 3.5, Liam is 2 and Patrick is 4 days old

…and there are some really great outtakes from this shoot that I cannot wait to share. And, you know, a birth story and stuff.

…right after a few more green beers.

Because - NOT PREGNANT.

Sláinte!

Mission Ready

Tomorrow I am 39 weeks pregnant.

And I am officially ready, so let's get this show on the road.

Now, I know, I know - we should let babies cook till they are done. And I totally get it. I went 11 days past my due date with Evelyn,  remember? And I didn't feel "done" any of that time.

But, I have never felt so "done" with pregnancy before…

I do now.

Who knows if it's because this is my third baby (in four years), or if it is because I suspect that I am actually closer to due than not (based on conception, which I am pretty damn sure of, because you know, two kids…so I can pretty well account for the "grown up times" that A and I get)…

...or if it is because it seems like I have been pregnant forever - simply because none of my new friends have ever known me not pregnant (crazy), or because we have done so much (like moving across the world, surviving our first deployment with kids, etc.) while pregnant with this baby.

I am beginning to suspect, though, that it has more to do with the reality of how little time that we will have as a family of 5 and be physically together finally starting to sink in.

We know that A will be deploying again, fairly soon after this baby is born, and will be gone for pretty much the majority of 2015. (Excuse the vague terms. There is this thing called OpSec. You can read about it.)

When it comes down to it, this baby's daddy will leave an infant…and come home to an almost one year old. I am grateful that A has the opportunity to be here for this baby's birth, obviously, but it still doesn't make it easy for either of us to look down the barrel of the reality of this separation.

We have known about the deployment, of course, and it has always been in the back of our minds…but preparing for baby has taken precedence over preparing for deployment. And now it looms closer and makes us both sit up and take note. I know that it's just as hard for him to conceptualize as it is for me.

So, a week or two of extra time with Daddy - and for me to have an extra set of hands in this new world of parenting 3 children under 4 (as much as possible while still being responsible for all the deployment work ups that will be happening at work) - actually does feel like it will make a difference.

Emotionally, mentally, physically - having as much time as possible with both of us on the same continent seems important. For all the kids, really. And for the parents.

So, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to debut a little early, G3.

It seems that we are ready for you to join us.

Whenever you're ready.


Evelyn Rae is 3.5, Liam is 2, I am 38 weeks and 6 days along with G3

…and on the upside, we are hoping to break up this deployment with a nice long visit back to the states. More on that to come, but I already can't wait for stupid amounts of silly American things that I miss.

Oh, Siblings.

The kids aren't even home from school yet, but I couldn't resist sharing this from this morning.

More to come from their first day.


Evelyn is 3.5, Liam is 2, I am 38 weeks along with G3

…and poor Liam.

Two little monkeys

"Let's make some nice faces for our card," we said.

"Can you guys smile nicely for everybody?" we asked.

This is what we got.

Can you believe these monkeys are about to be promoted another rung on the big sibling ladder?

Yeah, they can't either.

We think they'll do just fine.

(You know, knock on all the wood.)

Evelyn Rae is 3 ("and a half, Momma! Don't forget the half!"), Liam is 2, and I am 37 ("and a half!") weeks along with G3

…and, Grandparents? You're welcome.

Tiny Dancer

At the beginning of February, we finally enrolled Evelyn in some ballet classes here in Japan.

And as I went to share some photos of that day, I looked back for her ballet photos from Norfolk on ye olde blog.

…there were none.

What the heck? How had I neglected to share ANY photos of a year's worth of the most adorable ballet…ever?

Not even the first day?

Look how wee she was! Ack!

I mean, I made a chalkboard sign, for chrissake.

"Let's get this show on the road, Momma." 

And this?

My heart, y'all.

How did I not share this?!

I like to call this one, "Welp, here we go!"

I didn't even share the photos from that one adorable time where Daddy managed to not have to work and was her dance partner.

…I may have shed a tear or two that day.

I mean, she was still in diapers. She was so bitty. Her hair was all over the place, it felt like she had just learned to walk, let alone dance, her leotard barely stayed up on her shoulders and her tights - even in the smallest size that ballet store sold - were entirely too long for those two year old legs.

And now?

Now, that girl amazed me.

I had always intended on getting her involved in ballet again once we arrived here. 

But with deployment and unpacking and trying to get settled…it just never happened. And I would feel  pangs of guilt every time that she would ask me to watch her dance, or to help her practice her positions.

I knew she missed it. 

And though I knew the setting here was much more relaxed, and that the class was only half an hour - and that I couldn't comprehend dragging a toddler (and soon a baby) to sit still for a half hour class to watch (at 3 you no longer participate in the class as a parent, but it's not exactly a drop off and go situation either) - I knew we needed to do this for my girl. 

She missed it so.

So, we went to sign up.

And we got her dressed and squeezed her into last year's shoes, and went to class.

And she watched.

And she listened.

And she danced.

And she was filled to the brim with joy.

And so was I.


Evelyn Rae is 3.5, Liam is 2, I am 37 weeks and 1 day along with G3

…and this is what Liam does during class.

No shame in this game.