the unknown is scary

We've been house hunting the last few days here at Camp Lejeune, our future home in about 6 weeks. It's been a struggle to find a decent rental without paying out the nose or having to deal with horrible base traffic. I was so looking forward to not having to deal with traffic anymore!

Our favorite house was snatched out from under us just hours after viewing it, but we didn't learn about it til the next morning. I started to panic. I'd love base housing but there's now a 6-8 month wait for the 4 bedroom, which we desperately need.  Most 4 bedroom rentals are up in Jacksonville, but Ryan would have to deal with horrible traffic to and from work. The commute from the southern part of the area would be fantastic for Ryan but there are only a handful of rentals, and one less now that our favorite house is off the market. My brain hurts just recalling all the options we have. Do we wait til he checks in to find out the base housing situation and risk not getting a good rental in town, or do we secure housing now and get on the inactive housing list.  Choices, choices, and more choices.

The best thing about this trip is seeing the excitement in the kids faces as we reached the top of the sand dune and they saw the ocean for the first time. Olivia loves the water, Justin loves the sand and Liam just loves to be with me on the beach.  Can't wait to come back to the beach for a full day of sand, sun and relaxation!

Pictures are loading wayyy to slow and the beach rental must be cleaned before we leave. Will post more pictures about the beach from home!

no more ice cream

There's a wonderful place, well...it used to be wonderful. There's a place about 3 miles from the house that serves soft-serve ice cream called JoJo's. Is it just called soft-serve or can we add the ice cream description? Mmm, not sure. Anyway. The weather has been fantastic so we ventured out to JoJo's for soft-serve.

 You can see Ryan behind the little girls head who's looking at the camera, waiting to order our yummy dessert.

 Last time we went Liam wasn't born yet, so it was super fun to take the whole family to JoJo's.

 Because of the warm weather, there were lots of people so it took a while for us to get our order.

 I have no idea what kind of face she's making but this is what I got when I said "Smile."

 As Ryan put it, in concern for keeping Justin's teeth healthy, he gave him all the banana's he wanted and bit the bullet by eating all the ice cream! That man can make a simple banana split into a funny HAHA.

 There's even a place out back for the kids to play while for their yummy dessert.

 Olivia got her standard chocolate cone, Ryan got the banana split and shared with Justin. I took a chance and got the Strawberry Shortcake Shake. Oh. My. Goodness!! It was heaven. Just the right amount of shortcake combined with the cream smoothness that comes with cream, cream and oh, more cream. I don't even want to know the amount of calories I consumed that night but it was soooo good.

Apparently, we need to teach J-Man how to hold the bat.

I mentioned in the beginning that JoJo's WAS a wonderful place to go on a warm spring night for soft serve. Because, it came out in a news report the owner of JoJo's was arrested on child molestation charges stemming from an investigation that started back in August 2010. He's charged with 23 counts of various acts that are far to many to mention. It's really sad to think about such a wonderful local family attraction has someone so vial operating the business. JoJo's contributed a lot to the community, which is wonderful, but doesn't make up for what this horrible man did to a young 13 year old boy.

We will be making the 7 mile trek south to the franchise Maggie Moo's if we want ice cream from now on. Or maybe, we'll just get our own ice maker and create our own ice cream. Maybe we'll even spring for the electric version, although I do have fond memories of turning that crank because if we didn't help, we didn't get ice cream!

mind jar

Single parenting is hard! Single parenting with 3 toddlers is very hard! Single parenting 3 toddlers, when 1 of the 3 is nursed exclusively is extremely hard! So, to cope I have made a Mind Jar. Thank you Pinterest. Drinking is not an option right now, darn it.

Start with an empty mason jar. Only had jamming jars available to me so I went with it.

Add water.

Add food coloring of your choice. I matched my coloring to my glitter.

Depending on the size of your jar, add at least half a bottle of clear tacky glue to help suspend the glitter in the water. You can also use glitter glue but that makes the project a bit more expensive, and well...I'm cheap when I want to be. The smaller the glitter particles, the less glue you'll need. Play around with the ratio of water, glue and glitter til you find the perfect suspension.

Mix well.

 Watch the swirling, beautiful glitter. Breathe in deeply and slowly. Relax.

 Clear your mind. Slow your breathing. Relax.

Hopfully, my mind is clearer and I am more clam. When things start feeling like they're spiraling out of control, I must sit down, swirl my Mind Jar...and relax. Let's see if this thing will do the trick!

Breathe.

time flies

Liam's 4 month check up was today and he's a whopping 13 Ibs 1 oz and 24 inches long.  Only in the 19th percentile.  I guess he's just small, like the doctor's thought before he was born. 

 This time has just flown by and there's nothing I can do to slow it down. He's giggling everyday and smiles so big his face just lights up a room.  Teething is a big part of his days, and when he's not biting my shoulder, he's got his fists shoved into his mouth.

Tummy time is still a challenge, but when his older brother and sister play with him, he loves tummy time.

I really do miss my sleep at night but love holding him after he passes out when he's done nursing. He's not much of a snuggler anymore, but when he is full and settles into my shoulder and breaths deeply, my heart melts. I hold him as long as I can before I feel myself falling asleep and put him back in his crib.

just a newborn

I cannot wait to see his little personality come out and how he's different than his siblings. Each child is unique, but I see a lot of their dad and me in them as well.  I love my family. I miss itty bitty babies but know that they must grow up. It just happens way too fast!

no jackets for us

Woke up after a rainy night to beautiful weather.  Warm enough we didn't need coats or jackets at the bus stop this morning. However, the nice weather is here for a few days until it disappears again. Oh, well.  Must live it up while we can.

happy birthday, dr. seuss

Olivia has been learning about rhyming at school and needed to read 5 Dr. Seuss books for homework this week.  Thanks to the wonderful world of Pinterest, we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday early yesterday by crafting.

 She absolutely enjoyed getting her hands painted. One picture went to school with her today for her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Smith. Then she wanted to paint her feet.

 

It tickled.  A. Lot.