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!!!!!

A visit to the Ouma and Oupa

So sorry for the long blog world absence, but yes, we are back and lots of pictures to share!! Malone and I ventured out and traveled together for the first time this week. We went to Alabama to visit my parents and little sister and Malone's Ouma and Oupa and Tannie Christelly. *Ouma is Grandma in Afrikaans, Oupa is Grandpa and Tannie is Aunt. We had such a splendid time visiting with one another. But instead of me narrating to you about it, I'll explain the whole story in pictures.

I admittedly was a bit nervous traveling with a three month old. So, like any neurotic new mom I called the airline a few days ahead and asked a poor customer service agent a million and one questions. My friend Hillarie volunteered to take us to the airport in Lawton (the closest semi-large town about an hour away) early Tuesday morning. We headed out wondering if there really was an airport in such a small town and soon found out that there indeed was an airport although it was little more than a building, strip of pavement and 2 airplanes. Let no one say that I was not prepared for everything but a hurricane!Picture 1: Here we are on our layover in Dallas, stroller, car seat, and backpack filled with everything I could possibly need for a few weeks. Imagine trying to go through airport security where I had take Malone out, hold her, break everything down, take off my shoes, put everything through the x-ray machines, all while holding Malone with one arm, and then setting everything back up again. Needless to say, next time I think I'll take it a bit easier on the stuff.

Malone did great and slept on most of our flights...to the great delight of everyone on board who was visibly nervous about the lady with lots of stuff and a baby.
Picture 2: Here is Malone on her first flight ever. Apparently they are very serious about the fact that the baby HAS TO sit by the window. I found this out after the flight attendant repeatedly made an announcement on the plane PA system saying, "Ma'am, the baby has to be by the window." It took me a little while realizing she was talking to me :)

Finally, we arrived in Birmingham where we were met by my parents. It was love at first sight, Malone and the family. Everyone fighting over who would get to hold her, play with her and rock her to sleep....with the exception of changing diapers. My dad informed me that part of being an Oupa was that you no longer had to change diapers :) Tannie Christelly blew on Maloney's belly to make her laugh and had numerous photo sessions with her.Ouma rocked her to sleep, worked on her hand/eye coordination, held her, and played with her endlessly.Oupa would come first thing in the morning to make Malone smile and giggle with his stories and even had "tummy time" with her on the floor.Oh, and they did their part to make sure that she will be a bi-lingual baby, speaking only Afrikaans to her the whole week.

We also had a few visitors who came to meet Malone. Malone and I worked very hard on her first impressions, but alas, I think she missed the part where you are not supposed to scream a lot when there is new people. That and how farting in front of people was a bit of a faux pas. On Thursday afternoon, one of my best friends, Emily came to see Malone and visit with me. We had a great time catching up.

Then Friday night the Oom Johan and Tannie Karin, longtime South African family friends of ours arrived for a nice weekend visit. Saturday morning we woke up, drank some tea and ate beskuit (very South African) and later had a nice brunch outside while the sun was warming us up nicely. Malone just sat on Ouma's lap and looked at all the people, even joining in the conversation a bit. Later, Christelly and I had the best bike ride ever! All in all just a great weekend. Here's Malone fascinated by my mom's coffee cup.

Uncle JD sent Malone a beautiful pink blanket as well as a lovely letter written in Afrikaans. My mom is reading it to Malone.

By the way, in the midst of our trip Cameron and I finally officially became homeowners as we closed on our new house. Here's a picture of our house. I'll put up a few more pictures in a few days.

Sadly, our lovely time with the family had to come to an end. I packed up our stuff, which somehow had increased quite a bit since I had arrived, and we were off to the airport. We truly enjoyed the trip so much and I'm sure Malone will miss her Ouma, Oupa and Tannie Christelly very much.



Here some more pictures for you:

Malone trying to figure out what's going on as we're on the airplane.

Just for cuteness.

How cute is she when she wakes up?

Malone loved the swing at Ouma and Oupa's house. She tried to hard to play with her toys.

She was soooo tired when she would take a nap. It would take forever for her to fall asleep because she was just too interested in everything going on.

Auntie Christelle and Malone bonding a bit.

Update 2.22.08

Gosh, it seems like a lot has happened since I last wrote. The movers came, took all of our stuff which is probably already in Tacoma by now. Malone celebrated her 1 month birthday. We had a 1 month check-up with the doctor for Malone. We moved down to Altus, OK. We bought a house. All I can say is that is has been one busy week.

Moving- The movers came last Thursday and packed up all of our stuff. One of the perks to being in the military is that every time they send you somewhere new, a moving company comes and packs everything up for you. I mean, they literally get everything out of drawers, shelves and cupboards. I felt kind of like a lame-o just sitting around while someone else packed up all of our stuff, but we're not technically allowed to help. Then Friday, a ginormous truck came and took all of our stuff away. We spent then weekend furniture-less, with the exception of an air mattress and our computer (God bless the computer and internet). During the day we cleaned the house and at night we got caught up on LOST. Strangely enough, we kind of enjoyed the semi-camping.

House- We bought our first house! I can't remember right now if I told you this yet, but we bought a brand new house in Tacoma. It will be finished in April and ready for us to move into it shortly thereafter. We are so excited!

Altus- We finally left Enid, cars full, on Tuesday afternoon. Cameron, Malone and I were ready for our new adventure in Altus. But first we had to make it through the 3.5 hour drive there. Oh wait....did I say 3.5 hour? I meant to say 6-7 hour drive. That's right. What was supposed to be a 3.5 hour drive turned into a 6.5 hour drive with a baby screaming for most of it. It was crazy! Malone was not too happy about the car seat, long drive, being alone thing and she wasn't afraid to let me know. But finally we made it into town and Malone was also FINALLY asleep. Did I tell you about the hot dog factory in Altus? No? Pardon the mistake. Yes, my friends, there is a hot dog factory as you drive into town. Enough said. We're staying on base in a hotel-suite type of room. Its pretty small. Some day I'll write a post with pictures and all about it. The positive point of being here is that there is cable television in our room. I'm enjoying lots of FOODNETWORK, TLC and HOME & GARDEN channel :) But so far we're happy and getting adjusted to our new life.

Malone: YAY! Malone turned 1 month this past Sunday (She was born January 17th, contrary to a previous post where I mistakenly said she was born on the 19th, I'm such a bubble-head). We didn't really have a chance to celebrate, but have been enjoying the milestone anyways. Tuesday, we had a check up at the doctor's office. Malone passed everything with flying colors. She has grown an inch and gained almost 2 pounds!! Not to mention that she is more beautiful everyday. She is cooing and even smiled at me and Cameron yesterday. Both Cameron and I laughed so hard because it was soo darn cute. We looked so retarded, I'm sure that's why she was smiling at us. Nevertheless, it felt like some sort of parenting victory. I even cried! Here's some picture updates:This was taken a little while ago on Feb. 9th. I had just given her a bath and did her hair. Can you see her little curly Mohawk?


This is her "dad, what are you doing? " look.


Sleeping beauty taken yesterday.
This is just a funny picture to me. PS: I realize that she is wearing the same outfit in all these pictures. Purely coincidence. I promise, I do change her clothes.

There it is friends, what we've been up to the last week. Feel free to leave us comments. I welcome questions, suggestions even comments on who you think Malone looks like (I like to say that she is a lovechild between Cameron and my dad. She has features of both of them). We love you all and love having you in our lives!

Moving

Tomorrow the movers come to pack up our stuff and send it to Washington. Our stuff is going ahead of us by a few months to scout things out. If that was the truth, all that they would be scouting is a military storage unit. But all kidding aside, I've been attempting to sort through my clothes, Malone's stuff and house things to see what we'll need in the next few months before we have a splendid reunion with our things in our new house (did I mention that I think Cameron and I bought a house yesterday....I say "I think" because we're still in the process...I think...that's for a whole other post). Its kind of daunting to try to decide what you NEED based on unknowns. We don't really know exactly when we'll be going to Washington, we don't know what our housing situation will be in Altus, we don't know what the weather will be like in 2 months, we don't know what Malone will be like in 3 months, see, lots of unknowns.

Speaking of Malone, it struck me the other day that she is almost 1 month old. Time has flown! I was wondering, is she still considered a newborn? Then I got kind of sad, thinking that perhaps I haven't cherished these first few weeks enough. After all, I will never have these moments again with her. Then, I realized that I will think that at every stage of her life, because indeed I will never have that particular stage with her again. Its little overwhelming to realize that you can't take any day for granted because you will never have it again. So in the last few days, I've tried to avoid feeling consumed by all the STUFF and just focus on her a bit more. I try to look at her a little longer, study her various faces a little more, play with her a little more, just enjoy her a bit more. Its been really great. So, below is a string of pictures we took this morning in mommy and Malone time (Cameron has the camera, oh...and he's on his way back from Washington). Looking at these pictures I'm not sure if she has really enjoyed the extra time with me. But luckily, I don't think she's old enough to care!

Picture 1: She looks a little worried.

Picture 2: This is her "mom, you're so weird" look.

Picture 3: Whoops. Her head is still a bit floppy. I think you can actually see me saying, "whoops."

Picture 4: Her face shows what she just did in her diaper. My face shows my surprise at the noise coming from her diaper. HAHA!It will probably be a few days before I write again due to the move, but I'll try to sneak away to update you all on how she's doing with the world as she knows it completely changing.

VICTORY!!

I am pleased to announce that Malone and I have reached a temporary truce regarding outings. Our agreement includes compromise on both our parts, however, the conclusion is satisfactory. I have agreed to feeding her for a REALLY long time before we leave, waiting until she's asleep, wrapping her up nice and warm and then taking a SHORT trip to Walmart and then she'll be really sweet and sleep the whole time while I buy some diapers that don't leak gross things all over her clothes, yogurt, oranges and an already made rotissery chicken (sadly, I haven't figured out how to cook as a single parent) and maybe even let me eat some of the chicken. This deal worked out quite well for us. Although, it is at this time only a temporary truce, I consider it a major VICTORY for tired new moms everywhere! So with that, I stand with my fists in the air and cheer "Victory! Victory!"

On another note, I would show you a picture of how beautifully serene she is right now (part of her deal), but can't locate the camera. But as soon as I do, I'll post her weekly Birthday Picture. Can you believe she's on week 3? And more beautiful than ever!

PS: Because I feel really bad not posting a picture today, I thought I would share with you a picture of Cameron giving Maloners a bath earlier this week. Needless to say, she loves her wonderful daddy!

crawling and old navy meltdowns

I'll try to make this quick since I have a baby who just fell asleep and is already making noises of waking up. A few things of interest for this week: crawling...or attempting to, an Old Navy meltdown and being a single parent. First things first, our wonder-child is attempting to crawl at the ripe old age of 2 weeks. Is this normal? Below, you'll see a video of this marvel along with hearing her version of what baby dinosaurs sound like. Perhaps she'll be crawling around in a few weeks (a possibility if she really is the child prodigy we think she is) or she'll just be exercising her legs like this for a while. Either way, she loves her tummy time and looks absolutely adorable attempting to crawl.


Did I mention that I have officially been a single parents for the last few days as Cameron is enjoying some Air Force training at the beach in Florida? The things our tax dollars pay for! I have no idea how single parents do it. It is crazy! If I manage to get out of my pajamas and find a way to eat lunch, I consider it a victorious day. Not to mention that exercise time with Mommy isn't exactly as much fun as exercise time with Daddy. I'm sure Malone is getting sick of just seeing my face all the time. All that to say that we miss Cameron very much.

Lastly, I attempted to take her on our first outing alone the other day. For any new mom, the idea of still wearing maternity pants because nothing else fits AFTER you have already had the baby is not a very exciting thing. Hence, I decided to go buy a pair of cheap pants at Old Navy to feel like a normal human being again. I took Malone, fed, changed and sleeping. I towed along the diaper bag and the stroller, figuring this will be the easiest way of getting some shopping done. By the time I got to Old Navy, took out the stroller, attached the bar to fit the car seat in the stroller, while still nervously keeping an eye on my newborn (I'm trying to be a good mom and not leave her unattended :), attached her in her car seat to the stroller, she awoke and started crying. But gosh darnit, I was determined to make this shopping trip work. It was probably a bit of me trying to hold on to my independence that now is long gone. So I took my crying newborn into Old Navy and even managed to find some jeans I liked. Then the "I'm just waking up in a strange place" little cry turned into full blown hysteria along with the little goat cry (the one where her little chin quivers). People were staring, I was trying my best to calm her, jeans falling over the the side of the stroller. It was a mess. I ended up handing over the clothes I wanted to try on to a sales associate who could see the desperation in my eyes and took pity on me and we left. I must say I felt a little defeated after our Old Navy meltdown. Am I ever going to be able to leave the house again? In any case, not sure if its bravery, stupidity or necessity, but I'm going to try again today, with a trip to the grocery store.

Oh...little Missy is awake and in need of some nutrition, so I need to run. I'll try to keep you all updated on how the grocery store trip went. I leave you with a most beautiful sight that I get to see every day (and for right now, every minute)...

We're headed to Tacoma, WA

Its official! Cameron and I (and baby Malone once she arrives) will be moving to beautiful Tacoma, WA. Friday night, Cameron's pilot training class had their Assignment Night. The room was packed. Everyone filled with excitement and I'm sure some anxiety as families were about to see their fate for at least the next four years. Its amazing how one moment can define your life for the next few years. They called each student up one by one, made a few witty remarks about all the stupid things the student did and then gave a few different choices of plane. One by one they disappeared until one is left with the plane they are going to fly for the next ten years and then the location for the next four years. CRAZY! My heart stopped when I saw, C-17 to McChord AFB, Tacoma, Washington. I wish I could have seen my face. Not because I was disappointed or upset, but because it was soooo unexpected for me. All that to say, both Cameron and I are so excited and can't wait. It really is the perfect assignment for us.


Tacoma is a city about 40 minutes south of Seattle. The city has a population of about 200,000 with lots of young, tech-savvy people. It has little bakeries and cafes, beautiful parks, antique stores, downtown condos, old Victorian houses that is completely remodeled, boutiques and lots of things to do outdoors. Need I say how excited we are to live in this environment??!!

Cameron gets to fly the C-17, the newest heavy plane in the Air Force. There's all kinds of really cool things about it, but to read all about that, look at his blog .

We're not quite sure yet as to the timeline of all the moves. We plan to start looking for houses soon (maybe a cute little townhouse downtown Tacoma?) and will keep you updated on the whole process. Maybe I'll even put up pictures of possible houses? We'll have to see....

WE'RE EXCITED!!!! YAY!!!!


PS: The plan is to put up the Christmas Tree today. But really, who knows? I planned on putting up the tree two weeks ago. If it actually goes up before Christmas, I'll make sure to put up pic. :)