This is My Forties

In case the new header didn't tip you off... Josh is deploying again. We are pretty lucky that he wasn't deployed for as long as he has been back. Granted, we spent a good portion of his dwell time apart, BUT he wasn't in a combat zone so that's good. He'll be leaving at the end of February (so soon, you ask?... yes). It's only for 6 months and he'll be going to Afghanistan this time, to a pretty safe area. He is assigned to do a specific task so he'll not be on convoys and all that nonsense... it's not an Army assignment, technically. Good news: money, good for his career, awards, coins, reset the dwell time, won't have to go again for at least another year (can attend Logan & Torey's wedding for sure!), Kevin will be there too. Bad news: missing stuff... our 7th anniversary, Brennan's 1st birthday, my birthday, his birthday, Noah's birthday. Birthdays and anniversaries come every year. We had the option to not go this t...

Yesterday Tristan climbed into Brennan's crib again and caused a ruckus. He was jumping around and diving face-first onto the mattress, which made Brennan burst out laughing. Then Brennan tried to jump on his own. His feet never left the bed, but he did manage to shake the crib a whole lot, moving it at least 6 inches from the wall. I couldn't get a video with my 50mm because I was too close, but I think the pictures are just fine. I love how our crib has teeth marks from baby Noah and Tristan on it haha. Soon Brennan will leave his mark as well. Brennan appears to be getting a 3rd tooth. He's been more difficult lately (which for him is really nothing at all). I can't seem to get him to take a nap and he's only content when he's standing up or getting into trouble. I remember this uber-curious stage. Time for some more trips out of the house to appease his sponge-like brain! Gone are the days of infancy, gone are the 3 long naps. Now he's a bab...

While Brennan was napping Tristan and I made some oatmeal cookies. It's a lot easier to bake with Tris than it was to bake with Noah. Tristan just wants to watch and run a little 2yr old commentary. Noah wanted to do everything so he grabbed at things, spilled them, broke them (he's still like that). While I was dropping the batter onto the cookie sheets I would count each one. Suddenly Tristan piped up and counted to 10 on his own!! I didn't even know he was paying attention. I tried to get a video, but once the camera comes out, he's a little hambone. I uploaded it anyway because his brattiness just ends up being endearing when accompanied by those big brown eyes and crooked smile. Brennan inevitably woke up so I let him play on the floor with some pots and tupperware, which I surprisingly had not done with him yet. We had fun! He was covered in dirt when he got up, but even if I had just mopped it would have been the same story. Crawlers ::sigh:: what can ...

Today there was a fair amount of baseball throwing and hitting, a bit of tickling, some train track building, and general boy revelry in the playroom. Everything started out quite innocent... Tristan wanted to throw the ball to Daddy. Daddy hit the ball back to Tristan who squealed with excitement while aimlessly swatting the air with his tiny plastic glove. Then Noah wanted to get involved. Noah is very high energy so pretty much anything he does will include some running and jumping, and inevitably crying at least once. Josh was inspired to whack himself in the noggin with the bat. Tristan, being a monkey, did the same. One hit with the bat, 2 hits, more laughing, laughing, and more laughing... a ball was thrown, Daddy got hit. Daddy retaliated and all hell broke loose. Noah dived behind the art easel to use it as a mobile shield, Tristan followed. Little hackey sacks were flying back and forth at an alarming rate. Noah and Tristan would take turns popping their heads out ...

Our trip to Morocco started off with a few small hiccups, but nothing too horrible. We had trouble booking a hotel, but were assured that there were plenty of rooms available at naval station Rota for us to use. We headed out later than we'd hoped, but were scheduled to arrive at around 1am to Rota... not too shabby. The ride there was long, but bearable... a good 6 hours. By time we got up to the gate we were most definitely ready to be out of the van and into our beds. What could possibly go wrong?! Josh and Kevin set out to get a pass for the van so we could get on base. Adriana and I watched from the van with the kids, letting them stretch their little limbs after behaving so well for so long. This sure is taking a long time. This can't be good. They were chatting with the gate guards for at least 30 minutes before heading back... not looking even remotely pleased. Crap. Apparently, the US Naval base in Rota is guarded by some Spanish contractors who were told ...