We're Finally Home...

Well, we are back home on the West Coast after a trip to see both of our families for Christmas and our birthdays. We had such a wonderful time!!! It was so hard to leave Orlando and then to leave Birmingham. I miss my parents desperately and I know Pat misses his family, too. It is so hard to be on the otherside of the country. We aren't exactly driving distance from them.
Pat gets out of the Navy in a little under 3 years. I know his family wants him to get out, he wants out, and my parents want us closer, but it's hard for me right now. I am torn. The benefits of the military are amazing. Don't get me wrong, it is extremely difficult to live a military life...not just for us, but for our families. If Pat were to stay in 3 more years, there is no gaurantee that we would be stationed where we are for those years. We COULD be stationed closer to our families like in Pensacola or Key West:)....OR we could be stationed farther away like Hawaii or Germany (though I have a feeling that if we were stationed in Hawaii we would have a lot of visitors haha) It would be devastating to be so far from everyone, but three years really does go by so quickly and I know we would be able to do it...I got through a pregnancy "alone" and we are establishing our lives out here with out our support system--we are building a new support system in our friends. We have been through so much worse.
Having Diabetes for 21 years means I go to a lot of doctors and I go multiple times throughout the year. Pat told me "You go to the doctor more than anyone I know...COMBINED!" lol. And it's true. To stay healthy, I have to make sure I see a bunch of different doctors. TriCare is AMAZING!!!! The military wives community is so amazing and helpful. It is a garunteed job and lord knows we could use the job security. I start nursing school this month and graduate in January of 2014. It would be nice to get a few years of experience under my belt before he gets out so that I can have a secure job and be the bread winner while Pat goes to school.
Whatever happens, where ever we end up, I know God will be in control.

ANYWAY...I have 619 pictures to go through from our trip before I post any (and Pat's mom took a bunch, too, so make sure you check out her blog.) Pat's mom also convinced me to start Project 365. For now, I will be posting them on my blog...I know, I know...I'm already 3 days behind, but I WILL catch up today. We got a 3-in-1 printer so I will eventually be printing out the pictures...I'm excited!!!!!

Santa! I KNOW HIM!!!!!!

I've been in the gym 5 of 7 days this week...lost inches but no lbs....soooo frustrating.
Ryder has been doing an army crawl from one side of my parent's family room to another. It is so funny to watch him. If he sees a toy he wants, he will do anything to get to it-when he gets frustrated, he simply cries and his Grammy comes running to the rescue.
We went to the Millenia Mall here to see Santa. We got such a cute picture of the REAL Santa. I was so excited...it was just another stranger to Ryder haha.

Grammy and Ryder playing while we waited to see Santa

The REAL Santa

Christmas Time 2011

Well-We made it safe and sound to Orlando. Everyone was so excited to see Ryder and we was excited to see anyone else besides his mama who held him still on an airplane for 6 hours haha.We got in at 9pm and went straight to my parent's house. Ryder stil has NOT adjusted to the time change and I am running on very little sleep.
We have spent a lot of time with my grandparents and I am looking forward to my cousins and sister coming into town (as well as Kori's husband, my brother in law and MY HUSBAND). My brother came in early from school, too. He'll tell you it is so he could hunt but it's actually so he could spend more time with Ryder.

Yesterday, my grandmother took me and Ryder to get his christmas pictures taken. There were some cute ones...The above pics are some of my favorites

Orlando...

HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!