Rain, rain, go away!

Hey everyone,

I hope someone, somewhere in the country, is enjoying delightful weather.  Because it's been gloomyyyyy up here!  I'm looking forward to the end of the week when it's supposed to be sunny and 75!  This rainy/cloudy weather is no good for my mood which is already subpar due to lack of sleep.  :-/  Yes, folks, you heard it here... my son refuses to sleep.  OK, so it's not AWFUL or anything but it's not ideal either.  During the day, he still isn't sleeping more than about 45 minutes at a time.  So, that's just super.  haha  Then, at night, we've been trying to put him down earlier so Christian and I can have a little alone time.  So, his bedtime is now between 7 & 8.  Well, he usually sleeps until midnight or 1 a.m. and then he's up about every two to three hours after that.  We usually go to bed between 9 & 10 so it's just not a whole lot of sleep.  Like last night, put him down at 7:30 and he woke at midnight, 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. and then laid in bed with me until about 8:15.  It could be worse, I know.  But why does it seem that almost everyone else's baby sleeps through the night??  Blah.  I just like to think Max is getting all kinds of super nutrients at night and he'll be a genius one day because of it.  Hahaha.... rriiiiiiiight.

It's a bummer because it seems like we're going backwards in nighttime sleep.  He was only waking up once a night around 3 a.m. and then we'd get up around 7 a.m.  That wasn't bad AT ALL!  I didn't mind the one midnight feeding... but, two or three is a bit draining.  Maybe we'll have to sacrifice our mommy/daddy time a little while longer and keep a later bedtime.  :(  I feel like Christian and I just haven't had much quality time together that isn't spent with baby in tow or when we weren't too tired to even focus on anything other than a boring show on t.v.  Again, I wish we lived near family so we had all sorts of baby sitters!  But, right now, we don't so I'll just suck it up.

Speaking of living near family, we got some weird news today in regards to Christian's career that kind of throws a loop in plans.  We have always been under the impression that Christian would be able to continue flying for the rest of his time in the Navy until he retires in five years.  Well, apparently that might not be possible now because of so many squadrons decommissioning and so many new applicants for the program he's in right now.  So, now, there's some kind of guideline that states he can't do two of the same kind of tours after his department head tour, which he's in right now.  Basically, the only way he'll be able to get a flying position next is if there's some kind of billet that can't be filled with a new applicant.  Those are few and far between.  It looks like we'll be doing some kind of staff tour somewhere and hoping that during that staff tour, Christian can still fly with a squadron that's close by so he can maintain his currency and get a job flying when he retires.  So, there are all kinds of NOSC (not sure what that stands for but it's the position name) locations all over the country... even in Pensacola.  We're still a little far out to even have any clue what our options are but Christian's going to start talking to his CO and detailer soon to get some ideas.  Obviously I'm pushing for us to come back to Florida in any way possible.  My mindset has TOTALLY changed since having Max.  Before him, I really didn't mind living away from family because it was relatively easy for me to hop on a flight for a visit.  Now, it's a totally different ballgame.  And, to add one more kid in the mix eventually would just make it that much harder to travel by air in the next four or five years until they're old enough to walk along with me.  Then, by that time, I'd have to buy three tickets if I wanted to take the kids down to Florida!  AHHH!  haha  These are the things I think about in the long run and my darling husband just doesn't.  So, we have some things to figure out and decisions to make.  Hopefully we still have quite a bit of say-so in regards to where we end up.  I'll update you guys once we know more.

So anyway, everything else is going well.  Max is getting big and he's so funny.  He smiles quite a bit now, especially after he wakes up and after he eats.  In between those times, he's a bit more grumpy.  haha  Right now, I hear him fussing up a storm downstairs with Christian.  But, I deal with it all day long so I'm letting daddy get a little taste.  haha  He's been kind of a pill today anyway so I'm enjoying the little break!  Not sure if he's going through a growth spurt lately or what but he gets frustrated while breastfeeding and won't finish a feeding but takes a bottle of pumped milk perfectly.  So, this afternoon, I'm just pumping and giving him a bottle so I know he's getting a full feeding.  :(  Hopefully he stays a little more chilled out and lets me get more than a couple hours of sleep at a time.  :)  I know it will eventually happen and I will eventually get a normal night's sleep but man, oh man, I miss my 10 hours of sleep that I used to get.  haha  Those are long gone.

Well, I hope you guys are having a great week so far!  I think we're going to go visit the Underwoods this weekend down in Baltimore but those are our only plans.  Thankfully the weather will be nice!


I'll talk to you all soon!

xo,

Chrissi

It's May, y'all!

Hey everybody!

Can any of you believe it's already May?  It seems like yesterday I was taking down my Christmas tree!  Now, it's almost summertime!  Crazy how time flies when your a super busy mom!  haha

We made it back from Florida and I did NOT want to come home!  I had such a great time and I really got to experience what it would be like to live near family and MAN OH MAN do I wish we could live near my family.  :(  I guess it makes it more special when we do get to see everyone, though.  I hope those of you who get to have your kids around your extended family never take that for granted!  So anyway, we had a great trip!  It was a blast seeing Max meet everyone.  He even met some new friends- cousin Bram, the twins, Lilah and Colin and big man Easton!  He did great around them.  :)  He also had his first real beach day which he loved.  The sounds of the water and birds put him right to sleep.  I think Max and I are going to come back in June for a couple weeks while Christian is in Japan.  There are direct flights out of DC that are pretty cheap so I'll fly out of there and won't have to worry about a layover anywhere.  Perfect!  The flight I'm looking at now gets in the evening of June 18th and I'll come back July 1st.  That will give me two weeks down there which will be great!  Plus, many of my friends are teachers so they'll already be off for the summer so we'll have plenty of playmates!

Things have been good since we got back home.  Max is still having nap issues but he's only waking once at night, which is good.  I guess you gotta take the bad with the good, right?  Ugh...  With his naps only being about 45 minutes, it's very hard for me to get anything done.  I either get to eat, clean or take a shower... and it's usually one of those per nap.  haha  But, the crappy thing is, when he wakes from his nap, it's not like he's rested and a happy baby.  He's kind of fussy and I can tell he's still super tired.  He'll get fussy and his eyes stay in little slits but he won't sleep hard.  I've tried pretty much everything but if any of you have any ideas, please send them my way!

Anyway, Christian leaves tomorrow for about five days so that kind of stinks.  :(  His traveling really stinks now that Max is here.  If we could just win the lottery or something and have Christian not work and we could all just hang out every day, that would be fabulous!  haha  I can dream, right?

Well, I hope all of you had a great week and are looking forward to a great weekend!

xo,

Chrissi