i think the last time i posted, nick and kris were both being baptized... we had such a great time on our trip to san jose and i know that we always find an excuse to go home and visit. kris is getting ready to go to his new mos school in a wk or so and i've been staying busy at the office and trying to shed some weight at the same time. i guess it's working cause i looked so terrible in the baptism photos but i've lost almost 20lbs since then (3wks to be exact)and fitting into single digit jeans again without a muffin top is pretty awesome!
nick is 9 months old today and he is cutting his top 2 teeth... both at the same time no less! poor baby is cranky all day long but at least he's still looking forward to bed time as much as i am! he's eating like pro, going up and down the stairs and only getting better! all we need now is for him to walk without holding onto anything and i think he's got it down! i've looked into the CDC on base and have decided that it might be better to start nick in full time daycare instead of hourly care. it's 1 provider to 4 infants and all meals are provided. it just makes me feel so much better than i don't have to rush from one end of base to the other so that i'm not going over my childcare hours. it'll also be nice while kris is away for nick to be enrolled so i can have some grown up time. i'm also debating on whether i should add nick to our dental plan now or wait until he's at least a yr old to do it. i missed the deadline to enroll him for march so i have a few more weeks to sleep on it to get him enrolled by april.
i cleaned house and cleared out a lot of space so i rewarded myself with a new carpet cleaner :) i'm working on getting a new steam mop next! i cleaned the carpet both upstairs and downstairs all by myself today and let me tell you... having a dog and a cat and a mommy that sheds more than the dog and cat combined is not funny business! but the carpet looks really nice now! i set up my new exercise bike and hopefully i can watch tv from where it's at. and this is when i kick myself in the ass for not getting a swivel mount.

kris' graduation is in 2months and i'm thinking about gifting him with a new iMac. i think he really deserves it and especially with his new MOS he'd need an amazing platform to do his work. now to just look for the perfect desk and to wait on orders! kris put us down for miramar, overseas and virginia. i'd rather chew my arm off than to go to lejeune! but home is where the marine corps sends us.

nick is a few days shy of 8 months now and he is on the move! my little man has been crawling like the crazy the last week or so and is only getting better at it... he's been climbing on everything, standing on his own, crawling and taking itty steps with a lot of help but poor thing just wants to be on the move lol christmas leave was a lot of fun and turned out to be a lot better than i anticipated. pet sitting went off without a hitch. kris is still scheduled to go to mos school soon so hopefully we'll be moved out of 29palms soon enough! kris and nick are also being baptized together this weekend and i am absolutely excited for us to all be on the same page as far as faith and religion goes. i'm not adamant about making it to church every sunday but would like to raise nick in a home where he knows God and is familiar with the church and the bible. i also recently started volunteering with the navy marine corps relief society and i love it. everyone has been extremely helpful and nice and it's amazing what a few hours of adult time does to keep a bit of sanity in someone. i am trying to get my foot in to do casework so there is a bit more variety in my day that being at the front desk but whatever i end up doing i think i will enjoy. the babysitter i have for nick is amazing and she really is heaven sent. hopefully she doesn't get frustrated with a fussy (bc of teething) and squirmy baby. i know she loves nick to death but i'm not sure if i am able to have another sitter for nick that i would trust as much as i do her. i'm also trying to work out a little everyday to help shed the weight but getting upa t 4am everyday to squeeze in a run is killer! the caffeine i'd need to keep me going is insane but i'm motivated. chinese new year also fall on this coming sunday and while we'll be in the area i'm not sure if i want to make it a point to visit with all of my family. i just feel so overwhelmed with everyone's expectations of me and how often i stay in contact or visit that i think i'm still pushing the idea off. i'm so not ready for this extended weekend because of the laundry that needs to be done before the packing starts but i am so ready for us to have some family alone time that we so desperately need. this year is going to be hectic!

kris is finally home from the field and i can't wait to go on leave soon! there's a lot of packing, cleaning, laundry and last minute details that needs to be done in the next several days but we can do it! the guys have tomorrow off which is really nice and it means for an even shorter work week! nick has been teething and the drool is heavier than ever, the crankiness is oozing, and him slapping me and himself when he's mad only adds to the chaos. i love having all the extra time with my honey :)

nick has always rejected a pacifier from day one and a few days ago while i was rushing to make him a bottle and in an attempt to keep him quiet for a bit longer i grabbed a pacifier and put it in his mouth. then he was hooked. and he's been on it since for nap time and bed time. granted he'll take the bottle but sometimes he just wants the sucking motion to soothe him. just a comfort thing. whatever. i know we're half way to cutting him off bottles soon but whatever gives us all sleep and keeps nick happy.

it's finally decemeber and in a couple wks we go on leave to my in laws! it will be nick's first time going cross country and i am so excited for the rest of the family to meet him. we took our family portraits while my mom and sister was here and i love how they turned out. i also found a pet sitter for hannah cause a stressed and sick dog in the car for 30+ hours is no bueno. i really miss having jenn next door and we have new neighbors on both sides of us but they're just so good at hiding i have no idea who's there. kris also have his dates for school and hopefully in the next 6mo.s or so he gets orders so we finally know where we're going! i was driving to the PX today and i saw a whole line of white buses which means a homecoming! how lucky the families are to be reunited with their marine after so long. always tugged my heart strings.

Nicholas is 6 mo now and how life has changed in the months following his birth. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. My mom came down on Halloween and has stayed til now and my sister drove down last wk to spend Thanksgiving with us. My cousin Donna drove up from San Diego to spend the holiday with us and we had so much fun. We roasted a chicken, had roast pork belly, and the YMCA on base was giving away either Turkey or Ham dinners and I chose the Ham one. It came with a honey Ham, green bean casserole and scalloped potatoes. My mom made lettuce wraps, and sticky rice fried rice. There was a lot of food the few of us but we enjoyed it all. Nick had his festive Thanksgiving Turkey hat that great Grandma Laura sent for him. his half birthday also fell on the holiday so we celebrated with new toys for him and so far his favorite is a fish shaped teething toy. He's discovered his feet and loves playing with them! He loves to roll all over the floor trying to keep up with his feet. He's sitting up with less help from us and definitely becoming more of an independent sitter! He loves his baby food but only when its super textured so we mix a lot of baby cereal with it to make it nice and thick for him. He loves to smack on bananas and whole grains of rice. He's a pro at eating his Gerber graduate puffs and actually prefers those over his first favorite snack,  the rice rusk mum mums. He's in 12-18mo clothes already... 20lbs and 27 inches when he got weighed last a few wks ago. He really is growing so fast. When someone waves and says hi to him I swear he says hi back! Except its more of a drooly smile and he goes "uuuugh" he loves to giggle and always laughs. He's such a happy baby! And I get so mesmerized by him at times that sometimes I just lay in bed awake to scroll through photos of him. I'm so in love with my little boy!

everyday is a new day. each day brings new adventures. and it's up to you how you go about your day. you can make it wonderful or have it rain on your parade. sometimes there are circumstances beyond your control but you can always see it as a blessing in disguise. i don't understand some of the wives make themselves hermits and then complain about having nothing to do or not having friends to hang out with. you really don't need to be bff's with everybody but it doesn't hurt to smile and say hi when you walk past someone while you're out for walk, or make small take at the dog park. when i walk and i see people hanging out in their drive way i like to wave and say hi. who knows what doors that'll open up. i've met so many amazing people just starting off like that and i wouldn't change it. you don't have to be a complete extrovert to do it either! remember smiling takes less work than frowning.

i've been spending several hours a day at the dog park and taking my time when i walk. i love the fresh air and talking to everyone. it really brightens up my day. i haven't gotten baby fever yet for baby #2 but i love how everyone keeps egging us on for another one. it's interesting seeing everyone coo over babies that aren't their's lol. another wife in our unit and i have decided we are going to get together and throw a nice thanksgiving dinner for us, some other couples and the single marines that wants to join us. i think that it'll be really nice and i'm so excited to be able to plan and execute. i bought several more photo frames so i've gotta find the time to put them all up but i know i can do it :)