It's Been too Long!

It's beginning to feel like Christmas! I'm in the Christmas mood now! :)

It's been awhile since I've been on here to update everyone! Well, since Halloween, we went to the Marine Corps Ball on November 15th. It was really nice. Ikaika got to have a good night out with his work friends before he had to leave & we got one last parents night out. :)

We've been back & forth between New Bern and Gastonia a lot lately finding a house, packing up our things, going back for Ikaika's last day at work. and FINALLY moving in for good (well at least until Christmas, then we make the 6 hour drive once more.. ). We absolutely LOVE our new house. It's plenty big enough for us and guests (& room to grow ;) ). It is 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, with a bonus room over the garage that could be a 4th bedroom. I can't wait to get all of these moving boxes unpacked and this place cleaned from top to bottom. I can't stand a messy house! :) But, that's part of moving I guess.

Ikaika & I went out & bought a Christmas tree yesterday. It is my very first live one! I've always had a fake tree growing up, so any tips on how to keep this tree alive would be GREATLY appreciated. :) We had a good time last night decorating it once I stopped itching. I have to say, it's absolutely beautiful! Carter LOVES it. He is fascinated by lights. Speaking of Carter, we bought a small fake tree for him. It's only 3 feet tall, but it's perfect for him. We decorated it in bright colors just for him. It's really starting to feel like Christmas. It's almost perfect except the family tradition of going to my grandparents on Christmas morning is no longer possible & now it seems like the family is all going their separate ways. && we can't be with Ikaika's family this year either.. but I have hope that we'll make the best out of it & enjoy what we do have this year.

We miss you & love you all so very much! Wish you were all here! Merry Christmas! More to come very soon.. :)

Carter's 1st Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!

I'm sure you all got Carter's Halloween picture in the mail.. he just LOVES his costume! He got to do a little trick-or-treating at his Aunt MiMi's house.. He got babyfood, juice, & tooth & gum cleaner for Halloween.. The lady across the street sent him over a goodie bag of toys and clothes. How sweet :).. unfortunately, Carter slept right through Halloween night. He missed all of the trick-or-treaters including his cousins. We had plans of dressing him up and letting him help hand out candy.. but he had his own plans! Here are some pictures!

Carter's Halloween Picture

Trick-or-treating at Aunt MiMi's

Aunt MiMi & Carter

Carter's new trick

Well, Carter's a toe sucker now.. he started putting them in his mouth this morning! So gross! But cute at the same time! I was able to get a couple good pictures of him! Ikaika says between his hands and his feet he'll always have something in his mouth now! :)

Ikaika's Gone :(

Well, Ikaika left for Georgia at 5:00 this morning. He's going to be there until Wednesday late afternoon. So, that means 2 nights by myself with Carter! Pray he's a good boy for mommy! & Pray that Ikaika is safe! He went down there to train someone, so hopefully he'll get them trained by Wednesday and won't have to stay any longer. I have to hand it to single parents, especially of little ones. I don't know how they do it! It's so difficult doing it alone. The last time Ikaika left, I don't think I slept but a total of 9 hours that whole week! Thankfully this time, my friend Caroline is staying one night to help me out & of course I'll get some help from Mom before she leaves for work in the morning. :) I don't know what I'm going to do without her!! I'm definitely not ready to leave her. I don't see how Ikaika does it, being away from family for 6 years now. BUT, we're trying to get Hawaii!! That is definitely our 1st choice. Hopefully next time :) Well, I need to run and do some laundry while carter is taking a nap, or I won't get it done! LOVE you!

Yay for Carter!

Carter's a big boy now! He can roll over onto his back! He just rolls and rolls everywhere! He's also holding his bottle better and better everyday now. We bought him a big boy sippy cup today & he is EXTREMELY excited about it. He's so used to putting things into his mouth and nothing coming out of them. It was so funny. He pulled it to his mouth and got a drink and then smiled so big! :) He's adorable! Everyday it seems like he's learning something new.
On another note, we found out we are definitely moving to Cherry Point, North Carolina. It's about 5 1/2 hours more towards the coast than where we live now. There was a question whether or not we would possibly go to Camp Lejune, but it's officially Cherry Point now. Now, the house hunting begins! Only a month and a half before we leave! So, time to start packing & looking for a house to rent. From what we here base housing has a 2-4 month wait, so we're keeping our options open! Pray that we find somewhere! :) Love you all & miss you all tons!

Carter's Getting SO Big :)

Carter is getting bigger by the minute now. He's 5 months old already! He can roll to his stomach easily, and is now learning how to roll onto his back. He's only done it a couple times & we've missed it! He's just been on his stomach one second, then you turn around and he's on his back again! Speaking of, as I'm writing this, he did it again! He's in the stage where EVERYTHING goes into his mouth, it doesn't matter what you give him, he pulls it right to his mouth. He's getting better at holding his bottle. He fights sleep, so when he's fighting it, he'll pull his bottle out of his mouth and push it away so he won't go to sleep. He's also starting to sit up. He's never been a baby who likes to lay down, but now he's getting stronger at lifting up off of his back. He'll be sitting up pretty soon & crawling! I can't believe how fast he's growing up. You always here how fast they grow up, but never quite grasp it until you witness it firsthand.