Music and Me

It's always been super important to me that Mara receive an introduction to music as early as possible.  I was really involved with music throughout the years and wish that for Mara if it interests her.  

We've been attending a music class on post the past two months and in the last few weeks Mara has really come out of her shell.  She's actively engaging with the other kids, playing instruments and clapping along with the beat.  

Last week Josh was able to join us at the class and I think she loved having Daddy along.  We shook maracas, banged sticks together and played with a parachute.  Mara does great and loves listening to the songs (we have a cd for the car and it instantly calms her).  

Despite her love of the music her favorite thing about class is the stamp she gets afterwards.  Lol.  Whenever we talk about music class to her she immediately looks at her hand and points.  She loves it when her teacher puts a stamp on her hand and will show it off to whomever asks.

She loves to help put away the instruments

The class only has three more sessions left which is sad but I think Mara enjoys it enough to enroll in the next semester!

 

Dear Baby Girl

Dear Baby Girl,

Baby girl your Daddy came home the other day.  Despite trying to prepare you I think you were completely surprised.  Why is this guy not in the computer like he always is?

We met Daddy at the hospital and you were so shy.  You didn't cry or get upset.  You were just so unsure.  You clung to Mama's leg and wanted to be held.

This wore off so fast little girl.  I think by the time we were in the car you had realized Daddy was home.  You held his hand the entire ride.  And when we got home, Baby Girl, you were all his.

You brought him books to read and showed him all your favorite toys.  You chased him around the house on your Radio Flyer and sat on his lap during dinner.

Over the next few days your Daddy became your whole world.  You were his shadow, trailing him around the house no matter where he went!  Mama was no longer wanted (and this was totally fine).

All this, your reaction to having your Daddy back, just warmed my heart.  I knew you missed him.  I knew you knew who he was.  I knew you'd do ok.  I just didn't expect you to pick up so quickly where you left off.

It's like he was never gone in your eyes.

Baby girl I am so happy you have your Daddy back.  I know how much you missed him (and he you)!  It makes Mama's heart so happy to see you two together again!

Love you to the moon and back,

Mama & Daddy

The Children's Museum

Last weekend we decided to get out of the house for a bit on Saturday afternoon.  I've been wanting to take Mara to the Children's Museum downtown for awhile now but was just waiting till Josh was home so he could come with us.

The train display

After getting downtown we stopped into this great specialty taco restaurant.  I had eaten here a couple of times and wanted Josh to experience it.  They come up with the most unusual flavor combinations that just work.  I got a BBQ chicken taco and a spicy Thai beef.  Josh also got the Thai but tried the Korean Beef taco as well.

Trains say "Choo choo"

Getting a bird's eye view of the trains

Once lunch was consumed by all we headed over to the museum.  I didn't have too many expectations beforehand as I hadn't done much research into the place.  Overall it was ok.  We came at the same time as a birthday party so it was really busy.  Also I didn't expect it to be such a free for all.  Most kids ran around freely while parents trailed usually engrossed on their smart devices.

Mara warmed up after a few minutes and ended up really enjoying some of the exhibits.  She really liked the firehouse where you could climb up the stairs to the fire pole.  She also enjoyed "driving" the fire truck.

Playing with the eggs

Checking daddy out at the store

The farm set up was also one of her favorites.  Animals, especially farm animals, are a huge hit with Mara always.  She knows all the sounds they make and loves reading books about them.  At the museum there was a large cow you could milk.  She kept walking by it and saying, "moo" although she wouldn't get close enough to milk it.  She also really enjoyed a sound board that you could push buttons to hear different animal noises.  They also had this set up with a chicken where you could drop an egg in and see it roll out like the chicken had just laid it.  She really enjoyed that as right now she's at the stage where she enjoys putting objects in their places but it was hard with all the older kids around trying to do the same thing.

She had a full cart

What are the piggies doing mama?

The museum also had a grocery store display.  Although she wasn't really interested in the display itself, she did enjoy pushing the full carts around the building.  She took the carts into the courthouse and the bank.  She even stopped in at the dentist's office! :)

She loved this sound board

picking veggies in the garden

One of our favorite things at the museum was the model train display.  Twice a month a local group sets up their displays on the upper level of the building and patrons have the opportunity to check them out.  Mara loved watching the trains zoom around the tracks.  I think we stayed up there for almost 30 minutes as she was completely enthralled.

Grocery shopping

Taking a break from pushing the cart to brush some teeth

It's been fun now that Mara is getting to an age where she can really enjoy things like these.  We love taking her out and watching her experience these new things!

Life Lately

I feel like I have really been neglecting this space as of late.  February has literally flown by and we are just now starting to somewhat get back into a routine.  Josh's work schedule has been pretty laid back as he transitions back into full time work.  It's been such an unexpected blessing as we have been able to have more family time than I originally thought.

Suddenly winter has arrived in North Carolina as well.  We've gotten snow a couple days and the temperature has plummeted.  Lately we've also been getting that lovely wintry mix.  Roads have been somewhat nasty and we've had our fair share of snow days and late starts.  For the most part it hasn't affected us too much but we have been more cooped up in the house than I like.

We welcomed back the rest of Josh's unit last night.  It was so refreshing to see everyone home and reunited with their families.

I've been bonding a lot with my sewing machine lately.  I've made Mara two skirts and one dress in the last week and am currently working on one for myself.  It's all been a trial and error thing as I have absolutely no experience sewing.  I also hate reading directions and prefer a jump in with two feet approach so you get the idea...

I got a new computer about a week ago and I love it.  My old laptop was on it's last breath and I was literally just waiting on the day it decided to stop working.  We ended up getting a Microsoft Surface Pro.  For those of you who haven't seen the new 2 in 1 laptops they are awesome.  They have both laptop and tablet capabilities.  I was really looking to downsize computers to something more compact and lightweight and this really just fits the bill.

Wilmington Weekend

Over Valentine's Day weekend, the three of us headed to Wilmington, NC for some relaxation and fun.  Josh and I have been to Wilmington once before Mara was born but were excited to share some of our favorite experiences with her.

People watching with daddy

It was a bit of a last minute trip so we were lucky to find reservations at a local bed & breakfast near the downtown.  On our last trip we stayed mainly in Carolina Beach on the ocean but this time we wanted to spend the majority of our time in Wilmington.  (plus it was too cold to spend anytime on the beach!)

At the aquarium

We left Fayetteville around mid-day Friday and took our time getting there.  We popped into a local brewery for a late lunch and then headed over to the b & b to check in. The rest of the evening we spend exploring some of the fun shops and strolling along the river.  It was a tad cold so we finished the evening with a warm bowl of pho in a local Vietnamese restaurant.

Fishes!

The next day we headed to the aquarium.  We had been there before but thought with Mara's love of animals she would get a lot out of it.  Mara thoroughly enjoyed the tanks of small fish and continuously was pointing them out as they swam by.

Look Daddy

She was a little unsure about some of the kid geared features of the aquarium.  She hated the turtle statue to climb on and the tunnels to crawl through.  I loved watching her awe at some of the bigger fish and the large lobsters.

After we had exhausted all the sea life we headed outside and let Mara expel some energy on the playground.  She had a blast testing out the slide, eventually climbing the stairs and going down all by herself.  

in awe

 After the aquarium we grabbed a quick lunch at a local pizza spot and then caught the ferry across the Cape Fear River to the town of Southport. We had heard it was a quaint town and worth the trip.  I think the ferry ride was better than the actual town.  Mara loved looking out the window in the look out and watching the waves.  The town was quite small and only had a few stores worth browsing.  We quickly decided to head back Wilmington for the night.

sliding!

Valentine's night we took our chances and tried a nice seafood place on the water.  Thankfully they had a table near the bar and we shared a dinner of calamari and crab cakes!  The rest of the night was spent exchanging presents and hanging out at the b & b.

Daddy daughter love on the ferry

Sunday was our last day there and we took the time to explore some of the last few shops downtown.  We ducked into an outdoor shop and I was able to find a nice pair of hiking pants.  Our final stop was another local brewery where we tried a few of their local beers on tap.  It was a great ending to our weekend.  Mara also enjoyed making friends with their canine mascot following him around the room and petting him.

The albino alligator

It was so nice to be able to spend Valentine's Day with my love. I had chalked it up to another holiday we would miss but am so glad that we got to spend the time together instead.

He's Home

So I've been a little absent from this space of mine for the last few weeks but it's all been for a good reason...HE'S HOME!

Finally

It's a long story of how we came to be in this early homecoming but after a minor health scare Josh was redeployed stateside.  (I'm not going to go into any details about this but know he's doing well)

I don't think I've read a book since he's been home

Mara and I got the notice Friday, February 6th that Josh would be arriving late that day. I felt like a ball of nerves waiting for the clock to tick down.  We made a few signs for the house and chalked the driveway to kill the time.  Even Mara seemed to know something was in the air too as she refused her nap till just about the time we had to leave.

Daddy and Daughter

Over her nervousness

That day we were supposed to meet Josh in the ER.  It wasn't your typical deployment reunion but at that point we were just too excited to be all together again that honestly I didn't care.  Mara and I sat in the waiting room, along with most of the battalion command team, waiting for them to let us go back.  Josh's plane was delayed and then they had to medically clear him before we could go back.  I think we probably sat in the waiting room for close to an hour.  Thankfully Miss Mara kept my mind off the nerves as she ran circles around the hospital chairs.

Mara's shirt for the day

Finally the doctor came out and called us back.  I scooped Mara up along with the diaper bag and my purse and followed him back to Josh's room.  It was surreal when the doctor pulled back the curtain and Josh was sitting there on the hospital bed.  We had had a lot of time to prepare for his return but it still just didn't feel real.

One of our signs

We hugged.  We kissed.  Mara just took it all in.  She wasn't so sure initially but quickly warmed up to Daddy.  After a little bit of paperwork we got out of there and headed home.

Love him

I think the rest of the night we all were just in awe.  Awe of being in the same room again.  Awe of each other. I tried to just soak it all in.  No more deployment.  No more skype.  Our little family was together again!