You guys are so cute. I love you.

Remember

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little moreand thegetting it done a little less”

I was just reading a blogger , who quoted this. This leads me to wanting to capture more memories by writing them down. Mark is only 15 months old and there are so many things I dont remember. I wish I could remember so much. Because we I do randomly remember things , its the greatest feeling. I have been terrible with jotting down all of Marks firsts. Just yesterday I remembered and brought up to the hubby about Marks first favorite toy , it was a green hanger. I used to think that people would thing I was crazy letting my baby play with this plastic hanger , but he loved it. He wouldnt play with anything else. I cant even find a picture with the hanger , again probaly because I didnt want anyone thinking I was a bad mom.

Now this picture I love. It was the beginning of November and Mark was 6 going on 7 months old. I was doing something in my bedroom and put Mark on the floor , he then crawled out of my room across to the room my sister was staying in and found her "journal" she had tryed to start on computer paper next to the door. As you can see he had a field day with it and it was everywhere. I remember walking out of my room and saying "uh oh!" and he thought it was soooo funny. Camera moment. Im so happy to have this picture , it makes me laugh. He was such a cutie pie, and so curious getting in to everything.

So try to take the time to sit down and remember and record. Or blog , so one day you can be sitting there and can look back at older blogs and remember.

I can never think of a title....

I just came across this picture and found it hilarious. I dont remember anyone (other than my mother in law) telling me about the pain. BUT I am the person that will tell you it is painful. There is no need to sugarcoat it. Or else you leave that poor women thinking everything will be ok. I didnt know how painful it was going to be untill 3 hours before Bubba came into the world. The women in the room next to me was SCREAMING, I made Mark stick his head out the door to be nosy , then I got really scared . I think maybe at that time I might have shed a tear or two because I had no idea what was waiting for me.

The second one is how I feel everytime someone asks how Im doing. "Fine" ? No , not really. We all get past that point of "fine" or some of us are VERY blessed and really can be "fine" untill they have the baby. I just had a lady at the commisary yesterday asking about my entire life. What makes women ask certain questions to strangers?

Well to catch up on the past 1 or 2 weeks ( dont really know or care at the moment). Last Saturday Mark ran the Henry Coe 10k over in Morgan Hill, he came in first for his age group. They actually had medals this time. It was great to get out and be there as support/cameraman for him. Though while Mark was running I hid with the baby in the truck. We were in a dirt parking lot and it was not fun trying to chase him around plus dealing with super dirty man. Bubba had a good time in the truck though , playing with his cars and staring at the steering wheel as though he might be able to drive away.

Last Friday I had my 34 week check , I was supposed to post the day after about it but... yeah no time. Well maybe not "no time" but I forgot. Thats my life. All was smooth and the doctor said my tummy is measuring a week ahead. So Chloe can come into this world sometime before the 23rd? Who knows. I dont really mind when , Im really expecting and preparing for ANY time. Im 35 weeks now , but IF the measuring is correct that must mean 36 weeks? 4 more weeks! It really has gone by so fast being busy with Bubba.

This past week , not much as happened. Mark had a final and started vacation! We arent doing anything but preparing/organizing to move. Though alot of people I know and around us are all off to vacation. Its a little sad, it would have been nice to do something. I just remember its not that we didnt want to , its just that I cant fly pregnant. I think we will have a good time checking out parts of Monterey we havent checked out yet. I have 2 weeks of Mark being home and I really dont know what to do with him . So far, we have completed the garage and backyard. Tomorrow is Sunday , which leaves us chasing Mark around church for 3 hours then Monday we pack the kitchen.

Again so many more things happen , or Bubba does something so cute or funny but I never remember and never post. Quite sad , because I want to remember all memories forever. AH! Just remembered. This past Thursday one of Marks classmates had a lil get together. It was a GREAT time. Bubba had a blast , there were so many kids there. Though only the only one close to him in age was 2 1/2, but he loved it. He kept giving everyone hugs. He seems to do that when he is really happy and having a good time. It just made me so happy to him that way. Even some of the kids looked at him like he was weird , not knowing how to react to this baby hugging them. I got to know the wifes better , and they are awesome. It was just an all around good time with good food. There have been times with get togethers ( not here) when things can be awkward. But everything went along so smoothly. Cant wait to have another one. Its great for us to all get out and we can all socialize. Also the fact that it was kid friendly and Mark could run around made the evening much more relaxing. I did bring the camera ( it was Bubbas last swim class that night as well) but took no pictures. :( I do have pictures of my men in the pool though , they will come soon.

Another 2 weeks

Another 2 weeks has gone by. There have been blog worthy times , but by the time we get home it has passed my mind.

Bubba started swim classes this week here at the Monterey Sports Complex. He is having a great time , crying everytime class is over and they get out of the pool :( . I have only taken one photo with the camera , which came out pretty bad since I was so far away. Then Mark waved me over and I took pictures with my phone , which I dont know how to get the pictures from the phone to my computer. I will sneak up next week and take photos with the camera. On Monday I had met up with a playgroup from church. Which in my mind was terrible, only because it was a big kid park and Mark wanted to play on the play structure , which was far to dangerous , which I kept hitting my big ole belly on things and wiping kids out. Just pulling up to the park I was saying to myself this is not going to be good. Had a mini breakdown on the way home , just cant stand not being able to take Mark out and do things . All was well when that night he had his first lesson. Mark goes into the pool with him , and wow was he happy. I was sitting in the stands with tears in my eyes the whole time . Pathetic? I dont know. When you spend the whole day feeling as though you are a bad mom for not being able to physically do something for your child and you see his frustration of not being able to play , then to see and hear him screaming out it in joy... well it was a great thing.

Im just sitting here thinking to myself " What the heck happened last week?!?" . Its frustrating to sit here and not be able to think of a thing! Maybe when I remember and can pick Marks brain I shall post it .... I think Mark hit a milestone of some sort.... I should write these things down , but then I think I will remember!

Yesterday Mark was promoted to Lieutenant! He doesnt make a big deal about it , but maybe he should have? We did celebrate by going to our favorite restaurant here in Monterey, Islands! Yeah , its a chain but its the best of anything we have come across here.

The ceremony was quick . Mark just had to sign official paperwork then they took us outside and the Captain of the school swore Mark in to another 3 years of Navy life ! YaY! Then I got to "pin" him . Didnt actualy get to pin because he wore his whites , but I changed his shoulder boards out.

Marks buddies from class made it and of course the little one and I were there. Mark actually had to carry Bubba while being sworn in because he didnt want to be put down and was screaming bloody murder.

Im very proud of Mark though. I know he doesnt look at this as such a big deal , but Im proud of what he does and how he does it.

Mark has a 10k this weekend that we are looking forward to going to. Well I am excited for Mark , but Bubba might be a handful to chase around.... because I have no clue where this race is located. Wish Mark luck , I think he is hoping to place in his age group in this race. Then Im not sure if he said he wasnt "racing" he was just going to "run". Yeah right. Once he gets out there and there are other people running I know he will race , even though he has been to busy to train the past 2 weeks.

Also tomorrow is my 34 week checkup. I not looking forward to it . Only because right before I started this blog entry I got settled into bed thinking that I would get to sleep in and I had nothing to worry about doing tomorrow... then I was rereading last blog entry and realized that I had an appt tomorrow. I will update tomorrow along with a pregnant shot of the tummy.

The Past

While going through photos with my mother one weekend , we came across an old negative of my grandparents. We had come across some older polaroids of them but everything was very blurry. On Friday I went to a local photo shop to see if they could develop the negative. This is what I got... I was breathless first seeing it. Its such a great picture of the both of them. Its the greatest feeling to have something tangible from your past. I know some families have so much to look back on , this picture and a handful many are all I have. At least I can say I have something.