10 months big!

my sweetie pie baby curtis is 10 months old. goodness how this year has flown by. this picture brings tears to my eyes as my tiny newborn snuggle bunny is swept away by time and is barreling into the toddler stage. but this picture also swells my heart with waves of incredible joy. he brings so much happiness to my days. watching him learn and move. he is into everything his big brother and big sister are working on and squeals with delight when they let him join along. he's quick as lighting on his hands and knees and moves pretty swiftly along the edge of the furniture as well. he'll be walking in no time of course. this little tiny sweet child has grown oh so much in these ten months and i've loved every single minute spent snuggled up together, nurturing him with "momma milk" as the big kids call it. and soon we'll be planning a birthday celebration. oh little man, we love you so much. thanks for all the fun and joy you add to our days! and heavens, thanks for your tolerance and flexibility - we've drug you through so many times of transition. getting ready to move. a long visit to family. flying across the ocean. changing 40 time zones. you are such a patient baby. thank you!!

winter

the sun was out and the wind was whipping - we needed to get out of the house after an all day pajama-fest yesterday. the oldest two were crawling the walls and i needed some fresh air. curtis would have probably preferred to stay cozy in his crib, but majority rules around here. :)  we stepped out to load the car and....saw the sky filled with snow flurries! what an awesome treat! peter kept asking where the "big snow" was...as in, when would the ground be covered with it? i told him we might have to go to the mountain for that when daddy gets back from his mini-trip (its 80+ where he is, what a hard-working bum!).   we went down to the kintai bridge to walk across and back as pete has been asking to go back there for weeks now and it seemed like the perfect day for it. well, it was gorgeous - AND COLD! at the peak of the bridge the wind was really smacking us hard in the face and pete was cringing into his hat, covering his face with is mittens and saying "winter hurts my face!"...little betsy was a trooper but i'm pretty sure she had her eyes closed the entire time we were crossing the bridge there and back again. i was wearing curtis and he was super-bundled up and facing in toward me so i think he was shielded from most directions (although when he would turn his head to peak out, you'd see him whip his head straight back in again as i'm sure he got hit square with the cold as well). our first dose of real winter. i'm sure there's more to come. but we decided it was totally worth the cold to stand at the top of the kintai bridge and look out into the river valley and see giant snow flurries swirling, filling the air. happy hearts. peter thanked me for taking him to the bridge when we got into the warm car and told me i was a sweet girl. we headed straight home for lunch and hot chocolate....and naps!

i like this photoshop action - looks so aged. reminds me of the photo of my dad and his brother bruce hauling maneur "back in the day". :)

Santa 2012

last weekend reid's squadron hosted  a holiday party. unfortunately he was down with a big, but the kids and i dashed out quick to see santa, decorate a few cookies and watch the pilot fly santa back to the north pole in his jet.  peter was ecstatic to meet santa and chat to him, but betsy shared that she was "a little bit nervous of him" and decided she'd rather stand next to him than sit up on his lap. i told her that was absolutely ok. they both really enjoyed watching santa climb into the back set of the jet, the canopy close and the jet taxi away out of site to drive santa back to the north pole. that was just pure magic for all the littles who got to stay long enough to see it.  peter asked santa for a spaceship and betsy asked for choo-choo trains. looking forward to christmas morning this year, as are they!  they've been watching polar express and are absolutely smitten by the magic of it all. :)

Marine Corps Ball

once again I am playing catch-up. we attended the Marine Corps birthday ball on base this year. they converted the gymnasium into a convention hall of sorts. sort of felt a little bit like prom in the gym, but they did a lot of work to cover up all the "gym" stuff and make it look quite nice.
my friend and incredible danielle caceres took the pictures this year and was kind enough to share the images with all of us.  we had a lovely time with new friends and were wowed by the disco ball eagle globe & anchor but found ourselves exhausted by our busy lives here and happy to head home around 11 to get some much-needed rest. love this handsome marine and look forward to a lifetime more of birth balls to attend. xoxo

photo by Danielle Caceres Photography. Do not edit, crop, copy, save or print this image.