A Day in the Life of Will

I asked Will to send me some pictures of his daily life; it is such an odd feeling having your husband half way across the world. We are living such different lives right now... my days are filled with diapers, playgroups, and baby talk while his days are filled with Chinooks (ha and many other things!). Thankfully, with email/facebook/Skype, we do get to chat here and there! Will is very very busy but I think he is really getting into his groove. He is currently a platoon leader in the Delta company which focuses on repairing the Chinooks and Blackhawks; when he is not working with his guys at Delta, he is out flying. Although deployments are not ideal, both of us are happy he is getting to the opportunity to experience this and I am confident in the long run it will only strengthen our marriage.

and a day in the life...

Will is stationed at Kandahar Army Airfield in Afghanistan. So far the weather is manageable.. but I am sure it will get hot enough soon! He eats most of his meals at a cafeteria style eating... he says not great food, not terrible and they only drink bottled water. They have to fly almost everything in... so that is quite a logistical project. His days are really busy with work and they work everyday. Phew, no weekends would be tough!

Here are some pics of his living quarters.

Fancy right? We are very proud of him and miss him everyday!

and of course a quick picture of Miss H on her way to the doctor for her shots! This is pretty much
how we do everything! The Baby Bijorn!

xoxo,
allie

Monday and Tuesday in Photos

These days I take tons of photos on my iPhone to quickly email to Will. Our daily schedule's have become a bit busier because I am the new co-leader for Will's Company FRG; for those of you who don't know what an FRG is... briefly, it is the Family Readiness Group designed to help support the family side of the Army. Will's company "down-range" in Afghanistan had a change of command and the new commander was not married so it trickled down to me and my wonderful co-leader. I am sure it will become a hot topic on this blog throughout the next year. Harper and I are just a bit busier but we are excited to become more involved in that aspect of military life.

The last two days in photos...

Here is H and our friend Ingrid eating lunch down in Honolulu. Ingrid is dating Steve (a friend of Will's from school) and we are so happy they are stationed here with us (in fact, there a quite of few of Will's friends here, although most are deployed!). We love visiting with them and it gives us a perfect excuse to go down to Honolulu! These days it seems like so much of our life is centered around post...

Every morning, H comes and snuggles with mama in bed. It is one of my favorite times of the day (even at 5:00 am!). She is always on the move so snuggling is very rare these days! Sweet girl. 

Toys. Harper has just became a huge toy fan. I love this new phase. She is so intrigued by everything.

Lunch time! I just started H on "real" food for lunch and she adores it! Here she is eating some strawberries.

and Dinner time. Always very very messy. I love this photo. Yes, she is nakey but for a good reason. She has the start of a diaper rash but the fresh air always clears it up. I just line the floor with towels. Ek always a messy couple of hours but she loves it!

Meet Daddy Doll. There is a little picture of Will and her for the face. I know, he is a bit silly looking, but Harper loves him. We try to incorporate Daddy Doll into our daily life so she is reminded of Will. Currently Daddy Doll's favorite activity is reading books.

Today we had PWOC on post. PWOC stands for Protestant Women of Christ and is a group of ladies that gets together weekly at the post church; there are tons of babies and Harper loves playing with them. It is something we look forward to every Tuesday and I totally recommend checking it out if you are moving with the military or looking for a way to meet other moms.

Hope everyone else had a wonderful start to the week!

xoxo,
allie

The Tutu Lady

Who doesn't love to wear a tutu? Haha, well probably some of you. I love (emphasis on love) dressing H up each morning. If you ask my husband he might even argue it is a hobby of mine. I think little girl clothes are adorable and something is so innately sweet about them. Of course Harps could grow up to be a tom boy, or hate dresses, and I would embrace those changes, but for now, she doesn't seem to mind the pink!

We had a very busy Saturday; it was great, but we are happy to have a relaxing Sunday after church with some good playing and enjoying the nice Hawaii weather!

And of course a nice afternoon nap...

I hope everyone else had a lovely weekend!

xoxo,
allie

Crib Woes

Since (practically) the day H was born, she has always loved standing. She loves standing on my legs, balancing between arms, and now walking in between my feet. She is a woman on the go with her own agenda. When our furniture arrived two weeks ago, Harper started sleeping in her crib again after three month of our furniture slowly making the journey out here. Although I don't think she minded the pack and play, she definitely is intrigued by her crib. After nap yesterday, I heard her yelling and this is what I found...

She was so proud of herself; I love her face. It also meant a new project for Mama. In the past, I would have had Will lower the crib (not one of my strong points!) but clearly that wasn't an option. I tried everything (screw drivers, drills, every little different screw driver head)! I am sure some of you are laughing but again, not my strong point. After really exhausting our tool box, I figured out to use this tiny little thing...

I know, simple. H is still trying to use her bumper as extra height to get to her arms up but no luck. As a side note, I know bumpers are deemed not safe anymore with the rise in SIDS, but this women needs her bumper. Her legs and arms are always out of the slates without the bumper. Choices. Parenting has so many choices.

Trying to escape! This is just the beginning of many crib escapes I am sure. She will surely be the kid that just flips out; she is not afraid of anything.... at least yet! Definitely her Daddy's Girl.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

xoxo,
allie

Best Visit

We had the best visit with Hanna. We were so lucky she took the long trip out here... and at such a perfect time! Here are tons of pictures (compliments to Hanna's photography) showcasing all of our fun. Throughout the week we did the Diamond Head Hike, Pearl Harbor, Polynesian Cultural Center/Luau, beach/turtles, lots of shaved ice, great food, and the Dole Plantation. It was such a wonderful and busy week!!

We loved having our first visitor and can't wait to show more visitors this wonderful island. Harper is going to miss Aunt Hanna; she has loved having someone else to play with. Thanks for coming to visit Hanna; it meant the world to us!

Hope everyone has had a wonderful week! I promise house pictures are coming soon.... 

xoxo,

allie

Pearl Harbor

Hanna, Harper, and I have been very busy exploring the island. It has been wonderful and fun to be a tourist on the island; I am very much so in a "daily life routine" in Oahu and I love to being able to explore the island. Yesterday we went to Pearl Harbor and then down to the North Shore for some world famous shaved ice. The Navy/National Park Center did a perfect job commemorating the tragedy that hit Oahu on December 7th, 1941. I honestly can't imagine that day and not many words can probably capture what those soldiers/sailors/citizens felt. I love seeing history in action. We had bigger plans for the tour but Harps decided otherwise... I think in a couple of years she will be more interested.

I love this last picture. Harps is looking right at Hans and I think it is adorable.

 Yes. I let her try a little bit of my shaved ice and she loved it. She must have a sweet tooth like her mama.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures from the Polynesian Cultural Center/Luau from tonight and the Dole Plantation (our plans for tomorrow!)! 

xoxo,
allie

stuff and more stuff

Phew. I know I have been missing in action here but I promise for a good reason!! We got our stuff. It was the most exciting and overwhelming day all at once. The trucks rolled up right at 8:00 am with the three most friendly Hawaiians ready to help H and I; we had seven big crates ready to go. Unfortunately as the stuff started rolling off, I noticed some pretty severe damage. Although that is not uncommon on such a long journey, we also had several (emphasis on several) items stolen from our crates. I am so saddened to even type this; we definitely feel violated, but at the end of the day it is just stuff, right? Onward to the claims process. Ha.

It was chaotic. Thank goodness the sweetest baby was super good. She loved all the movement and seems thrilled with all of the new furniture. This is how she was most of the day! Sitting patiently in the baby Bijorn... sweet lady.

The last couple of days I have been busy unpacking boxes but I am thankful my home is finally coming together. I promise to post pictures as soon as it is presentable. I am really working on my hammering skills without Will here! Hanging some things are a bit of a challenge but I suppose it is good to push my limits.

Harpy has been sleeping wonderfully in her crib; I was a bit worried about the transition from her pack and play but I love this picture. I had just found her sheets (excuse the lack of bedskirt, etc) and she just seems perplexed by it all.

xoxo,
allie

Busy Bees

Harpy and I are just so busy! It seems like our days are flying by; it is a blessing with Will gone that time is flying (although we still miss him dearly). Over the weekend we saw tons of friends, went to church, the grocery store, and did some necessary jammie shopping for Harper. With all of our errands, I try and work around Harper's nap schedule. We are so lucky that she is on a great consistent schedule and I am trying my hardest to keep it that way!

Today the sun was shining and we went on a great walk! Harper went to "school" for an hour so I could go on a run (I have missed running so much this last week!) and a friend came over. Great day!

Exciting news...

I just moved some of our loaner furniture into the carport because tomorrow is the day! Our furniture is coming! It will be like Christmas but unbelievably overwhelming. Ek.

More exciting news...

 

One of my best friends is visiting Friday!!!!! Last minute, Hanna booked a ticket here for her spring break from law school and I could not be more thrilled. Honestly, it is perfect timing, so so sweet of her to come, and just such an exciting surprise. This picture is us three years ago (wow time flies!) in Greece on spring break. Hanna is like a sister to me and I honestly can not wait to spend a week together.

My neighbor brought over this for H! It is an army penguin. I took this before bed and I love this photo.

xoxo,
allie