Five Weeks

I'm only five weeks pregnant but I'm going to try something new this pregnancy then I did with the others. I'm actually going to take pictures and write about it. I decided to do this mainly because since this is my third pregnancy I don't want my life to get too hectic that it just passes by without me taking the time to notice it. I still remember Elijah's and Chloe's pregnancies and different things that made them special and I just want to make sure to do that for this one too. We'll see if I actually keep it up but for now this is my first post and hopefully I'll have one each month.


Me at Five Weeks:

The size of the baby at Five Weeks:

baby is the size of a sesame seed

Changes the embryo has gone through by five weeks:

Cells multiplied and the baby is surrounded by amniotic fluid to keep it nice and cushy. The baby is still an embryo right now. The baby's brain is beginning to grow. It develops from the neural tube, a structure that will also spawn your baby's spinal cord, nerves, and backbone. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to the baby, are already on the job.

Eh's:
I'm already ridiculously tired all of the time. By 1pm I'm ready for a 3 hour nap, and if I don't take one when the kids take theirs I pass out by 5 when Jed's home for an hour and I can still fall asleep by 9 for the night.

The baby doesn't like sweets. I get nauseous when I eat sweets instead of something healthy. I suppose it's not such a horrible thing but I like my sugars!

I hate salt and it apparently hates me too. If I have the tiniest bit of salt I bloat up 3-5 lbs each day. I guess it's at least keeping me hydrated since I down water like nothing else to push the salt through.

My pregnancy symptoms start earlier each time. This time 5 weeks, Chloe it was 6 and with Elijah it was 8.

Amazingnesses:
I love how excited Elijah is for the baby. He's really involved and asks everyday to see the baby.

Pickles! mmmm... I had the same thing with Chloe. Pickles are just SO GOOD! I think it's a texture thing

I found an OB with a midwife (yea!) and I can take the kids with me to appointments! Last time was pretty lame that Elijah couldn't come with to see the ultrasounds or hear the heart beats. He's so excited to be able to hear the baby.

Chloe and Elijah are ready to be the older siblings. Chloe is always looking out for other babies and tries her best to take care of them. Elijah is probably the one who is most excited about the baby.

I love knowing I'm pregnant before the test proves that I am. With each pregnancy, I've always known I was pregnant before it was confirmed. That was a bigger deal with Chloe since it took 3 tests to finally show I was pregnant.

This baby will come in August, a week after our anniversary, but we'll finally have a party outside instead of inside because it's freezing outside. I like to plan parties and I already have themes til this kid is 5.

I get to stay in bed and read. It's nice that I can take a day off and not feel too guilty for not cleaning or doing whatever else is supposed to get done and read (mainly because I'm exhausted and just don't energy for it) I've already read 5 books this month.

Our December

This month has been so busy and hectic and just packed full of fun things. I'm just going to share a few highlights though.

The first Saturday, the kids and I went to the Festival of Trees with Jed's sister, Bonnie, and her kids. I loved it! It's so amazing the talent and creativity that people have for decorating trees and gingerbread houses. The kids got tired halfway through but we all had fun. You can see the trees and gingerbread houses on my other blog.

We all got our Christmas trees too. This is when I found out Jed gave away all of our decorations except for one box which had our star and stockings in it and a few other odds and ends. Yeah.... I was a little bit upset since Christmas was the only holiday I actually decorated for but I decided to wait until after Christmas to replenish our holiday stock. Jed did buy lights for the tree and I bought a few things at the dollar store. I love the lights though and how they reflect off the walls. The kids love their trees though! Elijah has been obsessed with getting one since Thanksgiving, and he was very adamant about everyone getting their own tree again this year. We decided to buy the kids their own fake tree so we'll have it every year.

Chloe's tree

Elijah's tree and trains

Elijah also has been protectively attached to his Santa hat. He wears it everywhere, even to bed. He pretends to be Santa and fills the stockings up with his toys and tells me he's ready for Christmas.

I've been busy making some gifts this year which actually took a bit of my time, I also did my first guest blog appearance for my friend's blog and first showed them off there. (You can see them on my other blog here)

http://mamavisca.blogspot.com

 Jed had a couple of retirement ceremonies to go to this month, he even was the narrator for one. They're held at the Aerospace Museum, so he decided to take us for a trip since he didn't get to go with us the first time. It's so much better to go with him too, since he knows most of the planes and can actually explain them to Elijah. Chloe also had a blast and got so excited pointing out the airplanes and helicopters. She literally ran to each one.

Jed and the kids decorated a gingerbread house together. Chloe wiped the frosting off with her finger to lick it and after Elijah put on all the candy by himself he ate the rest of it. He's really proud of his house though.

We also decorated the windows with paper snowflakes. Elijah had so much fun with this. He made a couple of his own and had me put them up in his window. He loves the shadows on his windows too.

These were Elijah's

We also took the kids to see Santa. It was kinda lame since they wouldn't let us take our own pictures except from a distance back in the line and charged $25 for one 5x7 photo. I was surprised Chloe didn't freak out like she normally does, but she actually talked to him the most. He asked them both what they wanted for Christmas, Chloe responded and said "Toys!" and Elijah smiled hesitantly and just nodded. Then he asked if they were good all year and Chloe said "yes!" and Elijah just nodded. He loved it though! He was so happy to be able to see Santa. He loves Santa since last year and talks about him all year long.

Our biggest thing this month is finding out I'm pregnant! We're all really excited, although I think Elijah might be the most. When we first told him, I don't think he quite got it and left the matter alone, but last Sunday he became obsessed with it. We were on our way over to Jed's parents' house and Elijah started to ask where the baby was going to sit and he decided the baby can sit between him and Chloe. Then he started to think of names for her (he's pretty sure the baby will be a girl... he says babies are girls even though he wants a brother but says Chloe wants a sister...we'll see). So far his top two names were Light (he saw Christmas lights) and E ("because E is his favorite letter since Elijah starts with an E"). Elijah was also the one to tell Jed's family. He was walking up the stairs with Grandpa and said he's "getting a baby but it's in mommy's tummy." No one's been surprised since I've been so baby hungry lately. lol Since Sunday Elijah's asked to see the baby and keeps asking me if my "tummy's big now so he can see the baby." He even makes drinks for me so the baby can drink it in my tummy. (It's normally his left over milk with water that he added stirred with a dirty spoon he found in the sink... needless to say the baby doesn't get it's drink) We're all really excited though and can't wait until August for this little babe to come :)

(this is kind of an awkward photo but this is our announcement)

I hope everyone has a wonderful and Merry Christmas!

A Quick Look

I've been meaning to post pictures of our new house, but I've been so busy I just haven't gotten around to it. I'm just going to share a few rooms downstairs though. I'm still working on the rooms, so they're not complete, but for now they'll do. :)

Our Family Room:

This is the first room you walk into. When we moved we only had the couch set and t.v, so we bought the t.v stand, which I'm in love with right now. It didn't exactly match though so I made curtains to make it match a little better (you can go to this link on my project's blog if you want to know how to make them). I'm going to make a few throw pillows to match also and I still have a few things in mind for the room. If I ever do get around to doing it, I'll post updated pictures later.

The Dining Room:

This room is really bare right now. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with it. I keep changing my mind. I'd love to have a country French look, for now we just have our shear curtains up, but I actually want to trade them for a different color. I'm still trying to convince Jed to let me do cream with pink or yellow accents. You can probably see why he doesn't those colors. lol


Our library:

The downstair's rooms are a little on the small side and we have big furniture. We were hoping to have this room as our t.v room, but it just wouldn't fit with our couch. We all love to read and I've always wanted a library in our house, so we decided to turn this room into the library. Elijah loves the idea of it. He even started taking all of his books from his room to fill up the bookshelf. I also made the wall art for this room (here's the link for it) It's a nice and comfy place to snuggle up with a good book. Plus, since whenever I start a book I get completely obsessed with it, so this is a good place for me to be able to keep an eye on the kids while they run around and play. This also leads to the backyard so I can keep an eye on them as they play outside.

So that's the quick look at our downstairs. :)

24 Reasons to be Thankful

The first Sunday of the month, the Relief Society lesson was on remembering and gratitude. The teacher shared a couple of talks, one given by Elder Eyering. I loved this talk when he gave it in General Conference in 2007. When she went over it again it really helped my testimony to hear it and was the perfect start for the holiday season. With Thanksgiving coming up this Thursday, I thought I should do a post of things I'm grateful for to show my gratitude and appreciation for a few of the blessings I have (and probably take for granted).

A few of my friends have been posting almost everyday something new that they're grateful for, so in that same spirit I thought I would list 24 things I'm most grateful for.This year especially we've been extremely blessed and have so much to be grateful for so this might be hard to pin down just 24 of them, but I'll try.

. My Heavenly Father and my Elder Brother, Jesus. This might be stating the obvious, but especially lately, my testimony has really grown and I've really felt their love for me and for my family. I'm grateful for the ability to pray and know that they care and listen to me and provide for me. It's also because of them that I can be with my family for all of eternity. I am really blessed because of my relationship with them (if you want/need more information about them you can visit lds.org or mormon.org)

. Jed. I can really go on and on about why I'm grateful for him but I'll list just a few reasons. ;)
He's such an amazing husband and father. He is always so excited just to come home and spend time with me and the kids. He works hard to provide for us. He pushes me to be the best that I can and even puts up with all the random things I want to do or learn to do. He pushes himself to be the best. He's innovative, he's always coming up with something new to do or create. He runs to the store to buy me dessert at 11 pm for no reason except I was in the mood for something. He is a strong priesthood holder that takes his responsibility seriously. I can always count on him for anything. He opens my doors. He always takes out the trash so I never have to. He's goofy and makes me laugh. He's the love of my life! (There really is a lot more that I can add too)

. My kids. They make me laugh! They're always there for free hugs and kisses. They make me be a morning person, when I really don't want to be. They make me a better person and help me to open myself up in so many different ways. I learn from them constantly. They keep me on my toes. They are the best thing that I've ever done and I love them more than anything.

. Family. This year we've really relied on family a lot more. I really love my parents and siblings and am so grateful for them and all that they do for us. Because of them, I'm the person that I am today. I learned so much growing up from them and I love each of them for who they are as a person and who they are to me. I also love Jed's family. It's been really nice being able to get to know them better since we've moved closer to them. They REALLY helped us out and were there for us, especially while Jed was gone. Plus, Jed is who he is because of them, and if for nothing else, that would make me love and appreciate them. (fyi: in laws and our adopted family included in this....Love You too!)

. Friends. Friends just make life so much easier and fun. Since we've moved we all have people that we miss. Elijah really misses his friends too. He's always playing on his toy phone and "calling" one of his friends. Our friends were also there for me and made life easier for me when Jed was away. So a HUGE thank you to you all!

.Marriage. I'm extremely grateful for my marriage. It's more than me being grateful for Jed, I just love being with my best friend for all time and eternity. I'm happy that I have a good, strong and happy marriage. It's something that I really cherish, especially since my parents are divorced, I know how important a strong and happy marriage is.

.Temples. This is the place that brings peace and comfort into my life. Anytime I feel stressed or I need an answer about something, I know that I can go to the temple to get an answer. I'm also grateful for the things I learn in the temple and the covenants that I've made. Most importantly, I'm grateful that because Jed and I were sealed in the temple I can have an eternal family. I also love that Elijah loves temples. He's always so excited about them and he knows that because of temple ordinances we can be together forever and live with Heavenly Father and Jesus again.

.Our Home. I'm so grateful for our home! Besides the temple, this is my place of refuge. I love having a place to call my own. I try to create a peaceful home where everyone can come and feel the Spirit and feel welcomed. I'm so thankful for our new home, but I'm also grateful for all of the ones we've had before. They each hold a memory and I'm grateful for the time we've spent in each of them.

.My Heritage. I love having so many different cultures as part of my heritage. I think it helps me to accept others easily and their beliefs. I love learning about people and other cultures and beliefs. I think it helps me to have an open mind about things too. I'm grateful to my parents who taught me about my different cultures and heritages.

. Tithing. This might be weird but I'm really grateful to pay tithing. The blessings that we get (and not just with money) is amazing! I've never had a problem with tithing and have always done it, but right now, I can see what a difference it makes in my life. We got behind for a month which is something we've never done and it's tremendous the difference it made.

.Education. I'm so happy that Jed graduated this year. I'm also grateful for my own education (even as slight as it is). I love learning new things. I also love teaching my kids things. Elijah's favorite question is "why?" He is constantly asking it and even when I go into depth about something he still asks why which makes me have to study about it (or ask Jed... he knows everything)

.The Air Force. Well, besides some obvious reasons, I'm grateful because Jed has always wanted to join the Air Force. He even was in Civil Air Patrol when he was a youth. When we were dating he even asked my opinion about him joining (I told him that's fine, but sucks for whomever he marries lol). Besides it being a blessing in our lives, it was the answer to our prayers and has provided a way for me to stay home with the kids while Jed finished school.

.Projects. I'm really happy that I have interests that I'm able to develop into talents (well, try to develop into talents). Especially being a "homemaker", I find that I need an outlet to just be creative with. I have so many interests (baking, sewing, photography,etc) and I love being able to learn more and try them all.

.Internet. I'm grateful for the ability to connect with so many people in so many different places so easily. I also love that it provides so many inspirations for me.

.Food. Well, duh. But I'm really grateful to know that I have food. There are some places and people (sometimes people in my family) that don't know when/where their next meal is. I'm grateful to know that I have food and can provide food for my kids. I also just love to eat. Food brings out a different excitement in me. Sometimes when I hear or think of some sort of food/flavor combination I get obsessed and I really don't understand why others aren't as excited as I am (ie: dark chocolate bacon muffins...yum!)

.Water. About everyone knows that I'm a water snob, right? Well, I should show my gratitude to those who put up with me and my snobbiness and to those wonderful people that provide me with my reverse osmosis water (Jed fits into both categories). It is so good! It really is my favorite drink.

.Sushi. Yes, I've already said my piece about food, but sushi is another level of food. I'm not going to lie, one of the reasons I didn't want to leave California was because of sushi. I love the stuff. It's my favorite food. I was raised on it. It really is a comfort food to me, so it's been a little sad for me not to find the amazing sushi here like I had back in California. But that will make me appreciate it even more when I go back to visit, right?

.Flowers. Sherlock Holmes said in a book while admiring a rose, that it's these extra beauties in life that we know there is a God, because everything else in the world serves a purpose except for roses which are just extra to give us pleasure. (Paraphrasing). I agree. Besides, one of the only things Jed was able to send me while he was gone was flowers for our anniversary. They bring a beauty and they also let me know Jed loves me and it was just an extra thing to let me know he was thinking about me. I love when he surprises me with flowers. It makes my week.

.Books. I love to read. There's nothing better than being lost in a good book. Both kids also love books. One of Elijah's favorite rooms in our new house is the library. I'm always catching him reading to himself or trying to read to Chloe. Chloe's even starting to try to read on her own. I'm also going to include scriptures in this category. We all love to read the scriptures, too. I love learning from them and having my testimony and understanding renewed through the words that have been written. The kids also love the Book of Mormon. They can't go to sleep (or at least refuse to) until we've read our scriptures.

.Snow. If you read my earlier post on snow, this might surprise you. I'm really grateful for it though (this might change later, but for now it's a keeper). The kids love it and are just so excited about it; who could stand to hate it? Both kids love playing in it. Chloe will keep going out in it even after she keeps telling me "it's cold" and I have a hard time convincing Elijah to come in from it.

.My Van. This year we bought a brand new minivan. I'm so thankful that we have a reliable form of transportation. I'm also happy with how big it is. Seriously, if we kept our old car (which probably would've blown up by now anyways) we wouldn't be able to hold anymore kids in it. We do want more kids, so that would've been an obstacle. I'm grateful for our Sienna and that it moved us here in comfort and without any worries.

.Quiet Moments/Late Nights. I'm definitely a night person. I've always been one. As a mom, after a crazy and hectic day I also love having some quiet time to either spend with Jed or just by my lonesome to do whatever I want.

.My Mattress. We just bought a new mattress, and I love it! We got it for a great price and as soon as I lay down on the bed, even if its just a short moment, I just want to fall asleep. It keeps me well rested which helps me to be a better mom and wife during the day.

.Working Out. Sometimes there's nothing better than working out. I do have to push myself to do it, but it's worth it. Working out not only helps me to be healthy, but it really helps me to have enough energy to chase around my super energetic kids. Since I work out, it also shows the kids the importance of staying healthy and working out, too.

(I'm adding another one)
.Shout. I love Shout stain remover! Without it I wouldn't be able to let my kids wear white at all. It has saved so many of their shirts, especially Elijah's dress shirts. I really wish I had some before and after pictures, because the stuff is amazing... just saying :)

We've Moved Again

If you didn't already know this, we moved! Again... this time to our actual home. I have to say we LOVE it! When the kids first saw the house all they did was run from room to room to play in the closets. Yep, that's right, the closets. They had rack shelves in all of them (their level) which make great fun to swing on. Elijah was so excited to have our new house. His room is really big so even though it's a 3 bedroom house I asked if he wanted his own room or if he still wanted to share with Chloe. Without a thought, he replied he wanted his own room. I think we all prefer it that way too.

Like I said, it's a 3 bedroom house, 2 stories with 2.5 bathrooms. We are just so happy here too. The best thing about the new home is that it has a nice size backyard. Even with it snowing, the kids have a blast playing in the back. We've spent the past week unpacking and just trying to organize everything. I'm happy to say that for the most part, the first floor is pretty much unpacked, (yay!) except for our decorations. We did have to go out and buy a few things (and still need to) like our new t.v stand and we bought mattresses for everyone.

I have to say that Heavenly Father has really helped us out here. We barely had anything, Chloe was the only one with a bedroom set. We looked online and priced compared and we were able to buy things for a steal! I was so excited about it too. Part of the excitement is that besides our couch everything has been a hand me down or someone has given to us, so our t.v. stand was the second piece of furniture that we've bought together. I'm in love with it too. I saw some similar ones online for over $400 and we found ours in a store for $150.

One thing that we've noticed since moving here is how easy it is to stay clean. Even the kids try their best to clean up after themselves. Also, since the kids have so much space to do whatever, they rarely watch t.v now (back in the day they only got an hour, but after moving and the craziness of everything it was upped to about 3-4... sad, I know) Also, our neighbors are super friendly. I'm not really used to knowing my neighbors but they are really nice and inviting here. So is our new ward. I thought our last ward was really outgoing (and I still miss them tons!) but almost 1/3 of the ward made sure to welcome us on our first Sunday.

So I don't really have any pictures yet of our house, that'll have to come later, sorry. As I finish each room, I'll try to post the progress.

One perk of moving: finding our stuff! Chloe was so happy when she found her sunglasses. She's taken them everywhere around the house with her.

Of course the kids love playing in the boxes. This is their "rocket ship"

The kids playing in the snow in the backyard

Elijah's first snow angel

Also, as a side note but equally exciting... Jed's youngest brother, Luke, got back from his Orlando, Florida mission Wednesday! We were lame and couldn't get our act together and find things to leave in time so we missed picking him up from the airport. We met up with Jed's family for dinner though. Here's all three brothers back together. The kids LOVE their Uncle Luke!

First Snowfall

It snowed today! This is something that made me a little hesitant to want to move to Utah, because me and snow just haven't had the best relationship in the past. It's even tried to kill me once, but I decided today to be the bigger person and to like snow, hopefully snow will decide to play nice too. The kids really make this easier too since they both were so excited to play in the white powder.

To see their enthusiasm over the snow and the thrill of just stomping around in it makes it totally worth me getting over my dislike of it. Okay, I should clarify and say I don't hate snow, I just want to visit it and leave it there, not live with it. But it is so beautiful to see everything blanketed in white and feel the crispness of the air. It  almost makes you feel like your secluded up in the mountains instead of surrounded by tons of people all of the time.  We did have to go to the store to buy the kids some gloves and boots and a hat for Elijah. That was the only drawback from the day since they couldn't play too long without us going to the store first. Luckily, I thought a little ahead and bought them jackets for snow while I was still in California visiting.

As soon as Jed said there was snow outside this morning, Elijah was clamoring to get outside.
Their first touches of snow:

Don't you love Elijah's pajamas?

Elijah trying to throw snowballs

All day Elijah wanted to try to build a snow man "like Calliou" but it wasn't wet enough to actually make one

Elijah thought it was really cool that icicles were coming down off the tree

it does make everything so pretty

 Watching the sun slowly disappear through the snow covered trees

Trick or Treat!

This was a really fun Halloween. We kind of pulled things together at the last minute. Elijah at first wasn't super excited until he remembered what Halloween was... the night to get free candy from strangers! lol He had been begging to wear his giraffe costume everyday and was so excited when I finally let him. He was so excited to go that he even started helping the rest of us get ready. He went around finding the things we needed (like Chloe's goodie bag and shoes, Jed's hat, etc) Elijah did miss going with friends though. He remembered from last year that he went with Elena (my four year old sister) and kept saying he needed to wait for her to go. Jed and I decided to dress up last minute. We did the pirate costumes again. Unfortunately, we didn't have a theme that we all stuck with this year. I tried but with all the craziness I just let it go (for this year). We went to only a few streets since the kids burnt out really fast from running to every single house. Chloe LOVED trick or treating! She was running to every house and even did her best to say trick or treat. Both kids even remembered to say 'thank you". Chloe grabbed mainly suckers (her favorite candy right now) and Elijah mainly grabbed mnm's. Unfortunately for Elijah he grabbed lots of peanut mnm's (which is one of mommy's favorites) so his candy stash has been depleting a lot faster than Chloe's. We had a blast though just chasing after the kids. 

 Sadly this was the best picture of the two of them together

Chloe waiting on the porch to go

 Chloe loves purses right now so part of her excitement was getting to carry the bag by herself

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

Jed's An Officer!

Now that Jed's back, I'm going to have to find a different way to keep track of my days and timeline. It's been a week since we've been back together. BEST WEEK EVER!

I left last Friday to fly to Montgomery,Al. I was so excited the night before that I didn't get much sleep so traveled with only 3 hours of sleep. I am definitely not a morning person but waking up at 4:30 a.m. was really easy once I remembered why I was waking up so early. Traveling wasn't so bad either. I got to read (old school style... from an actual book and not my nook haha) and I got to watch the sunrise over the snow covered mountains. I did get stuck to some stinky people though, but after three flights I was finally in Alabama. I really don't think I have ever been so excited to be anywhere. I also got to rent a car. That might seem mundane and not really note worthy, but I got to rent a brand new Dodge Charger. After driving a mini van everywhere I really miss being able to drive a nice fast car. Jed liked the car so much he started looking them up to see how much they were to buy since he needs a car... maybe in 5 years after we pay off our van will he get a nice car until then he's probably going to get a nice beater car. :)

Finally together! 

Anyways, back to my trip... Jed was always telling me how pretty Alabama is and how no one around him thought it was or appreciated it at all so he was really excited to show me the town. It's a bit run down, I'm not going to lie, but the buildings are beautiful! They have an old world French influenced architecture and so much detailing (I'm also a little obsessed with French decor right now). I kept making him stop so I could take pictures of random buildings. There were also lots of civil rights historical sites along with confederate sites. It was a little interesting to see how the site of the Confederacy also inspired so much good for civil rights. We were a little put off by all the confederacy stuff but it was still amazing to see how much history there was in that town.

At the Capitol:

 Oh He's just so HOT!

 I just want this bench

Random buildings:

 the train station was such a beautiful building and even had stained glass windows

 this was one of Jed's favorite buildings

 there were fountains and statues everywhere

This is the officer houses on base! How cute are these houses, it ALMOST makes me want him to put in orders for Montgomery haha

So hopefully, this doesn't offend anyone, but we're not the biggest fan of Southern food. At least not what we ate for the most part. It was fun to try new dishes, but overall it was pretty bland food (I actually salted my food which if you know me is a HUGE deal). Although, I fell in love with this amazing banana pudding dessert. Seriously, I've had bread puddings before but this totally changed my mind about them. It complimented the food so well and it was delicious goodness!

This is the place with the delicious goodness

We did find this one amazing restaurant though. The reviews for it said it wasn't typical Alabama food but still tried to incorporate southern food. It was an Armenian restaurant (part of the reason we wanted to try it was because we both haven't had Armenian before). The food was so good! It was a really cute place too. One of the things I liked is that it had tons and tons of cookbooks everywhere as part of the decor too and they had local artwork. The chef cooked seasonal food and pretty much the menu changed to whatever he wanted to cook for that week. If anyone is ever going to Montgomery, Al you have to go to Michael's Table.

 I was talking to the kids for a nightly phone call

Okay, now to the part you actually want to know about lol... After spending the weekend together Jed had to go back Sunday night and Monday we both had classes to attend. Jed had to do some out processing and I got to attend a spouse orientation. After lunch we were together though. There was an awards ceremony and Jed's flight got an award for best flight. Then Jed was able to give me a tour of the campus. We had a flag ceremony to lower the flag and then we were left to ourselves until the Dining Out.

 Jed's squadron was the Gold Hawks. I forced him to pose here, no one wanted too either

The Dining Out is a formal military dinner. We got to dress up. It's out of my element to dress up so much, but apparently it's something I'm going to have to get used to. It was fun though. They had some funny hosts and even a "grog bowl". There's a list of rules the military have to follow and if you don't follow the rules you can get called out to drink some sort of concoction from a punch bowl in a toilet bowl. There's an unleaded (non alcoholic) and a leaded (alcoholic) drink. The best part about it is that in order to call someone out you have to do it in a rhyme and to respond to the accusation is also done in a rhyme. Luckily, Jed only got called up when his entire flight got called up to do it. It was pretty funny and entertaining.

The next morning was Jed's graduation. It was the moment that we had been waiting for 91 days! It was fun to watch everyone's family try to pin on their stripes too. It seems harder than it should be. After the graduation they had one last parade and they all took the oath one last time together.

 Jed right before he took the oath

Jed taking the Oath

Jed right after with his flight

  Jed's an OFFICER!

It's finally over

We flew back home Wednesday and the kids were so happy to have their daddy back. They are both super clingy right now and just don't want to let him go. Jed's really happy to be back with everyone too.

I wouldn't be a good mom if I didn't take a picture of a plane for Elijah

 I love sunsets in planes

"We're so glad when daddy comes home!"