Home, Sweet Home

It is true, we have finally made it to Tacoma and in one piece I might add. We arrived Friday night, tired, hungry (worse for some named Malone than others) but excited to see our new house that Cameron picked out for us. I am pleased to say that we are all very satisfied with the choice of house and Cameron therefore gets a great, big, golden star! But before I tell you about the house and our recent and oh-so-exciting endeavors, let me catch you up on our road trip.

We left Altus....a while ago. It feels like so many worlds ago that I can't even remember when it was. We were in quite a hurry to get out of there for many reasons but mostly because Cameron still had to check out of Vance AFB in Enid and we were hoping to get out of Oklahoma before the weekend as to not spend extra time there when we could be on the way to Washington. We got checked out of Altus, then back to Enid for a few days then we hit the road to Colorado. As we left Oklahoma, we looked in the rear-view mirror and said, "Good Riddens!" Now, to all our Oklahoma friends, we love you and have loved spending time with you. So please don't let our dislike of 90 degree summers, mosquitoes, tornadoes, having nothing to do on a Saturdays, be any reflection of our love and appreciation for you!

Back to beautiful Colorado! We truly enjoyed our time in Colorado Springs. We stayed with my super hotty sister, Lydia and brother-in-law Joel and just enjoyed their hospitality. Malone of course bonded once again with Lydia (she came and stayed with us when I had M) and fell in love with uncle Joel right away. We also got to spend some time with many of our friends....shout out to all my Colorado Springs readers!!!!....and went to our old church on Sunday where we dedicated Malone. Pictures to come of this great and spur-of-the-moment event when Sarabeth gets back from gallivanting around the world with her camera. We were sad to leave Colorado but Monday afternoon made our trek to Wyoming with a pit stop in Ft. Collins to see Cameron's Aunt Marge. Its always good to be in Wyoming and see all of the people that Cameron loves so much and that now has grown to be quite special to me as well. Malone was introduced to the Laramie crowd and won them over with her wit, charm and good looks, not to mention a few party tricks here and there. She sat on the swing with Grandma Claire in the backyard and loved to play with Grandpa Jay's face. Overall, just a enjoyable time with family and friends. And then it was time to leave all those who showered Malone with attention and back to just the three of us. I was hoping Malone wouldn't be too disappointed.

I must say that I was very surprised how easily Malone handled all the new people and let just about anyone hold her. A few times I could tell she was getting a bit overwhelmed but those moments were few and far between. She was a trooper and if we were a Daddy Warbucks kind of family we would shower her with gifts because of how good she was.

We drove the first day 600 miles from Laramie, WY to Twin Falls, ID, leaving at 5:30am and driving until about 6pm. It was long and tiring but good to make huge progress. Malone slept quite a bit and had a few melt downs but nothing too serious. The next day we made it all the way to Tacoma a distance of about another 600 miles. Malone slept for most of the morning and then a good chunk in the afternoon, but I knew life could not be so kind as to have her sleep the whole way and my streak of good luck was about to end. And boy, did it! As we were about 2 hours away from Tacoma, it started raining and Malone woke up with a vengeance. As we were crossing a mountain pass in the POURING rain I had a baby screaming in the back seat. Then we got lost...oh and Malone was still SCREAAAAMING. And then we finally arrived at home and Malone was still crying. It was really sad and by then I was ready to cry as well. BUT, we made it safe and sound!

So that was our journey through 8 states, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and finally Washington. I think Malone is the most well traveled baby ever! So here we are in OUR home. We are currently sleeping on an air mattress because our furniture won't get delivered until Friday, but that's ok because we are home. We've been painting (and by we I mean, mostly Cameron has been painting), putting up curtains, buying a few things here and there and mostly just getting organized. We love our new home and can't wait to further explore this great state. By the way, the weather is terrible right now. I'm a bit frightened for things to come...its been about 55 degrees and cloudy or raining every day since we've gotten here. They say it is very uncommon for this time of year, but I think I'm seeing what winter will be like and I'm not sure I can handle the sun-less-ness. Luckily our house is some nice bright colors to liven it up a bit.

OK, its time for bed, but you can go to sleep knowing that I will post some pictures once we get our furniture. Also tomorrow, I'll tell you all about our IKEA adventure and the famous Pikes Place Market today. Sleep well friends!

Real FOOD!

Malone turned 4 months over the weekend. We're such dorky parents that we actually semi-celebrated it by singing to her with all the gusto we could manage. Somehow this "birthday" just felt like a real milestone. Along with being 4 months, she received a few presents. First, we're pretty sure she is in the process of receiving her teeth a.k.a teething. All of a sudden she's not the sweet-all-the-time baby we've grown accustomed to. Plus, she is wanting to chew on everything including fingers, fists, blankets, legs of her toys, I mean everything!!! And drooling is flowing like water from a waterfall. Second, she tried her first bites of real food. I'll let you figure out from the pictures how she liked her Gerber Applesauce. The pictures are in order of events.

Picture 1: Awaiting the so called "real" food.
Picture 2: Growing impatient as she decides to feast on her hand

Picture 3: Me giving her the first bite
Picture 4: She looks a little mad at me for giving her this terrible food.


Picture 4: She looks confused
Picture 5: Look at that face...we were laughing so hard at her face.
Picture 6: Cameron trying
From the looks of it she didn't really know what to think. And luckily for us, there was no spitting out of Applesauce either! Maybe we'll try the banana variety today.

By the way, it looks as if we will be heading out on our Washington journey fairly soon. Hopefully, Cameron will have his final flight here in Altus on next Wednesday, we'll head out to Enid for a few days on Thursday and make it to Colorado Springs sometime the following week (probably June 4 or 5). Then on to Wyoming for a few days and cross our fingers, make it to Washington by June 14th. Any tips on traveling with a 4-month old? Send them my way!!!!!

Mother's day...long overdue

So I've been working on this post since last Sunday and only now have come to post it. It kind of feels as though life has been busy, but really hasn't been. Cameron has had these last few days off and that has been nice. Last week, we went to grand metropolis of Lawton to go look at paint colors at Home Depot for the interior of our new little house. We found some great colors and I'm excited to announce for you that we will have a nice and colorful, spicy, interesting, cool house! No more white walls with awful seventies floral wallpaper like in Enid!! And the crowds rejoice!!!

In anyways, as I've been thinking and preparing for Mother's Day, I've been trying to think what I have learned about life being a new mom. I'm still working on it, so watch out for the deep, intellectually stimulating, heart strings pulling post coming up sometime in the future. One thing I have realized it how incredible my own mom is, and I make sure I take full advantage of her with many, many phone calls starting with, "Mom, Malone is doing this....what do I do?" Thinking back to all those years when she balanced being a mom with working very full-time jobs, with helping my dad in the ministry, plus going to school, proves that she is amazing. I don't think I realized her value fully as a mother until I became a mother. So here's a toast to my mom!

Meanwhile Cameron and Malone did their best to show their appreciation of my "mothering" by getting me some beautiful roses, new running shoes (I know, most people would be offended by this gesture, but I really wanted them), brunch at the Officer's Club and a beautiful new Starbucks coffee mug. According to Cameron, I needed a mug that suited my personality better as well as one I could microwave, as I often have to drink my coffee cold and my last cup had the un-microwaveable metal on the bottom of it. It was a great day and I truly felt loved!!

Here's some pictures of the day:

Picture 1: Malone and I on Mother's day. Look at her pretty little dress.
Picture 2: Cameron and Malone at brunch on Mother's Day. Malone was a little sleepy.
Picture 3: Getting ready for a summer outing.
Picture 4: Just hanging out getting ready for bed.
Picture 5: Playing with her favorite hippo. She tries to eat his legs and he doesn't fight back...match made in heaven.