Thursday, May 10, 2012

Pretty Pink Day!

I got Claira dressed today, and was super excited because it is warm enough for her to wear some of my favorite outfits of hers. This little onesie is probably my favorite of the size she is in right now, and I am going to be really sad when she outgrows it soon! 
We were playing in the living room, and I decided she was too cute to NOT do a little photo shoot. 
SO I ran upstairs and pulled out a fuzzy blanket and draped it over the couch, the quilt she is on is one my grandma sewed for her! 
Here are a few of my favorites! 









We had so much fun rolling around on the floor.
I was looking back at earlier photos and I can't believe how much she has grown!
She will be crawling in no time, and I am not sure I'm ready for that yet...

-Kristin

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

It's monday night...and I have no homework!

Since last August it seems like I have just been going, going, going! 
Last semester ended, and I was only on my Christmas break for a few hours before Miss Claira decided it was time to finally meet us!
After that it was complete busyness, new baby, Christmas, New Years, family time.
Then the Spring semester started.
And now it's over!
I have, yet again, congratulated another group of friends on graduating, without me.
It's hard sometimes to go to a traditional college because it is getting harder and harder to relate to my classmates. I am a couple years older than most of them, I am married, I have a baby.
But this is the school I feel I was meant to be at, and I am SOOOO lucky we were stationed here so I could graduate here!
When I think of graduation, I only picture the graduation ceremony for this school, because it is pretty much amazing! Picture a big white Greek amphitheater with this view(this was actually taken on campus, you can see the ocean from most buildings on campus too!), now add all the pretty decorations and the caps and gowns and happy family members and graduation stuff.
I can't wait!
A little over 3 months at home with Claira (which I am looking forward to enjoying), then I start my 3rd Senior year of college! Yes, I said 3rd Senior year! Unfortunately my dream graduation, from my dream school, requires some extra classes that are school specific, and my last two semesters will be completing those, and my Senior portfolio!

So, onto my SUMMER!
Saturday, Ronnie had a rare day off, he's not cleared to go back to his boat yet, but he still works long, inconsistent and at the moment pretty inconvenient hours, so we took advantage of that day off and went to Old Town to the Cinco de Mayo fiesta that was going on this weekend.
It was packed!
There were so many people, we walked and looked at a few booths, but it was hard to get around in the crowds of people with the stroller. We didn't want to walk ALL the way back to the car to get the sling to carry her in, so we went to an old fashioned root beer and beef jerky store. They had buy one get on free root beer floats, and some yummy beef jerky. So we sat and relaxed and people watched for a little while.
Claira smiled and talked to the people sitting next to us with a little boy, who was maybe 4 or 5, who kept telling me she was "the most ah-dowa-ble baby ev-ah!" and his sister who was probably 2, just kept trying to get out of her chair to try and feed Claira the hot dog she was eating (sharing is caring right???)
Then some of our friends called and invited us to go to dinner, and my other friend who we exchange rides home for babysitting, just happened to be available last minute.
So we went to dinner, babyless, and it was nice to spend time alone, with our friends.

On Sunday, remember those inconsistent work hours?
It was a Claira and Mommy day for most of the day! We went for a walk with Charlie, laid in the hammock on our back porch, listened to the Baby Einstein station on Pandora, rolled around on the living room floor, told secrets with Charlie, and ate our toes. It was a great day! :]

Today, we did some grocery shopping. Tomorrow will be some more giggles and walks and toe eating before the FRG meeting in the evening. I'm excited to start getting to know some of the other wives from the boat again, I stopped going after Ronnie had to come home early from deployment. A few of them didn't like that my husband was home when theirs weren't, even though he was home because he was injured and needed surgery. I can understand where they were coming from...but then I can't...it's nothing I would have un-friended someone on Facebook over!
Anyway, I decided to keep my distance until the boat came back, and now most of the wives have seemed welcoming, and of course everyone is in better moods with their husbands' home! ;]

Well, it's off to sleep for me! Tomorrow is a big day, Claira is trying bananas in her rice cereal in the morning!

-Kristin

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Changes :]

I'm making some changes to the design of my blog.
It's not quite finished...I'm in the process of designing a header for the title and I am SO excited!
It's coming soon!
But now I have to get back to studying while Claira is napping...

She's not napping in this photo but I just LOVE it!

2 months later...

So much for "I am going to post once a week!" 
Life has been busy, as you can probably guess. :] 
I am getting really excited though, soon I will have more time for things...like my blog! 
I only have 2 more days and I am free for the summer...so if anyone in San Diego needs a beach/mall/park/eating buddy I am your girl! Actually you will get 2 buddies...Claira and I are a package deal!  

Speaking of Claira...

This beautiful ball of fluffy baby chub is now double the weight she was when she was born! 
She is so happy, and surprises us everyday! She recently discovered that she can grab her toes on her own, and now she plays with them any chance she gets. It's kind of nice because she holds her own feet up during diaper changes ;] 

I am so ready for the semester to be over, one last final Friday! And how do you think I have been preparing for it? Finishing my sculpture and studying for the written exam? 
Of course not! 
I baked banana bread tonight, and started editing my cousin-in-law (not sure if that is a real relative term...but it makes sense to me! I also have sissy-cousins...) and her friend's senior photos. Because I am a master procrastinator, I have been a college student for 5 years now! 
No, I will get it done tomorrow. 
Tonight I am also procrastinating going to sleep, the husband is working the mid watch this week, it is so weird going to sleep alone at night with Claira here now! Before I could stay up late and sleep in but now she literally is my alarm clock in the mornings I don't get up early for school, and she doesn't have a snooze button. :] 

And speaking of Ronnie, his surgery went well, they had to take half of his meniscus from his right knee. The surgery went well, but recovery has been loooong, too long! He is still in physical therapy three days a week and has not yet been cleared to go back to his boat, because he has trouble with ladders and being on his hands and knees...and if you can't do ladders...you can't get into a submarine! It has been a little frustrating, and really stressful, BUT he is getting better and will be back doing his real job soon! 

Well I better go to sleep! My alarm clock will be rolling around in her crib and yelling before I know it...at least she sleeps all night now! 
I WILL be posting again...
...sooner or later :]

-Kristin

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Now let's play catch up! :]

A LOT has happened in the past few months...I'm pretty sure August was the last time I posted! I really really REALLY didn't want that to happen, I feel like such a slacker because I haven't really even logged into Blogger to read or anything since then! Right now, I am skipping my web design class, funny story, we were talking about blogs and stuff and a little light bulb of "oh yeah I have a blog!" popped on in my head. SOOO here I go. My life since August!

August- I started my 2nd year as a college senior...yep that is 5 years so far! And the sad part is I will be a senior for another year, I graduate May 2013! If you remember I was also about 6 months pregnant when I started last semester, and I took on a pretty heavy course load so THIS semester I could take less! Ronnie came home from an underway and we spent as much of the 2 weeks between then and deployment as we could together.

September- Ronnie started his first deployment. He didn't want me to stay and watch the boat pull out from the pier so I left, but stuck around and found a spot where you could watch until they disappeared. I needed to see it in order to believe he was really leaving.  I cried. Then I went home and took a nap, woke up and went to class. School helped a lot! It was nice to be super busy!
I also did fall things like making a wreath when I was supposed to be doing homework...

October- I was still super busy with school, and things falling apart, like the garage door.
All the other wives toilets overflowed, could I get lucky and just have to buy a plunger? Nope, the garage door had to fall down! I'm so happy we live in housing, they sent someone out right away to fix it!


  I also found time to go to the FRG costume party...as a pumpkin farmer! I painted my belly myself!

Around mid October I got an email, and it wasn't just any email it was an email from Ronnie...my excitement faded a little when I read "Don't freak out, but I hurt my knee pretty bad, I can't walk on it. I have to wait until the next port to get an MRI." FUN. Then the day before Halloween I get a phone call..."I might be flying home this week, there are no MRI machines here." I was happy to have him come home but I knew it was the beginning of something a little harder than having him gone, as much as he said he hated being deployed, he didn't like being home without his boat a little more.  SO about 9 weeks into our first deployment he came home! And we waited for a doctors appointment to see if he needed MRI...

November- We waited some more. Then he finally got his MRI. More waiting...Then another appointment to get another appointment (which was actually right after Christmas!) to tell him "you need surgery" FUN. In the mean time I continued to go to class and get things done like get Charlie's hair cut!


 
Before
After...He HATED me!
And I cut my hair too!

We spent Thanksgiving with BOTH of our families since I was too pregnant to travel! It was quite an experience having 27 people at dinner!


December-I started my last week + finals week of school! Decorated our Christmas tree (it only took an entire WEEK!)

Then on December 14th I emailed my last final project to my professor, 2 hours later my water broke! We went to the hospital at 8AM on December 15th...and after 13 hours at 7lbs 10oz miss Claira was born!  We are SO happy she is finally here! Some good came out of Ronnie's injury, because he would not have been home for her birth.


one week old!
she and the Charlie are pretty good friends!
4 weeks old!
6 weeks old!

January- Came and went before I knew it! I started school when Claira was almost 4 weeks old.  I worked it out so my classes are only in the mornings, and the afternoons are free to spend snuggling with my snuggly baby! Ronnie had his surgery consult and after almost 6 months will have his surgery next week.

Yesterday- Was my birthday. 23 years old! Ronnie left work early and showed up at the door with flowers, a bottle of wine, and a birthday cake. It was a great surprise since I wasn't expecting to see him until almost midnight!

Today- My baby is 7 weeks old and she is getting SO big! We had some issues with her weight in the beginning but she is definitely making up for it now. Well that is what has been going on the past few months! I'd like to get on here more often, I'm going to set a goal of at least once a week for now! :]

-Kristin