February 2012

Weeellll, February will be an easy month to update, because we have pretty much been holed up inside the entire time. Either I have been sick, the kids have been sick, our friends have been sick or we have been snowed in from the crazy amount of snow fall this month. Pretty lame.

The Marine and I did have some fun Valentines Day excitement though. We needed to get some legal stuff done on the Air Force base in Anchorage, so we headed up there for the day. The Marine actually got the day off without having to take our precious leave days, and our friends watched the kids for us. They already have a 2 year old (2 weeks older than Isabella) and an 8 month old of their own, and Anchorage is a 6 hour round trip drive not including the time spent actually in the city so they are some pretty amazing people, we are so lucky God blessed us with their friendship. We got to eat at Olive Garden, yummo! It just opened up last month and the wait was about an hour long so we headed to Target while we waited. Oh how I miss Target haha

Isabella had her very first Dentist appointment this month and she did way better than I thought she would. She gets nervous around new people and I was sure they wouldn't even be able to get her to open her mouth at all, but the hygienist was super sweet and the Dentist has two toddlers as well so they both made her feel super comfortable.

For our Arizona family, we will be visiting next January. The kids and I will be there for about a month, but the Marine can only take a week off so we'll figure out his visit when it gets closer. We do plan on spending a weekend in San Diego during the Marine's part of the visit so we can visit our loves stationed there, but again all those details won't be finalized until closer to January. Even though it seems like forever away, we are super excited to see everyone!

January 2012

So I’ll admit it, I didn’t even come close to keeping this blog updated. I refuse to apologize though; I was alone with an infant and 1 year old most of the year and had to plan a move to Alaska by myself so the kids and I were a little busy J

We LOVE Alaska, winter and all. I guess this has been the coldest winter on record in awhile, but we haven’t really been bothered by it too much. I suppose if I had to go out in it every day, I would probably get annoyed, but the Marine doesn’t seem to mind it either and he does have to go out in it. I think this is the first place we have lived so far that we have honestly tossed around the idea of getting out of the Marine Corps and starting a new life here. I doubt that will happen, we’re almost half way done with his career so it would be stupid to leave now. However, we are looking into possibly purchasing a house here to rent out and keep until the Marine retires. We’ll see. We might just be excited at this new experience and realize we hate it at the end of the 3 years ;)

We have been slowly, but surely making some great new friends. We have great neighbors (that we even have a path plowed through the snow to get to them haha) and have met a few other couples through my bible study/mom groups and just putting ourselves out there to strangers. They call it the “Alaskan way”, but seriously, people.are.so.nice.here. It’s ridiculous J

The Marine is gone a lot, but that was to be expected. It is hard not being close to a base and weird to be the ONLY Marine Corps family for 140 miles. While we have made some great friends and are continuing to grow those relationships, I do get overwhelmed with loneliness sometimes. I feel like its different here, because when you are surrounded by your own “family” on base, they understand what you are going through (and are probably going through the same thing!) and don’t think twice if you just pack yourself and the kids up to go camp out at their house for a day…or two haha and do nothing at all just because you feel like you are going crazy in your own house. Recruiting definitely makes you realize what a close knit community the military is and I’m so thankful to be a part of it.

The past few months we have really just been getting settled here. We did go on vacation to Hawaii last month and it was fabulous!  The one thing we couldn’t stop talking about when we got home was how it was the first vacation we have ever taken that truly felt like “vacation”. Normally we are running around trying to visit everyone and do things, but this time we just did whatever we wanted and it was sooo nice! Has definitely changed our mind on how future vacations will look like! We got home from Hawaii right before Christmas and had a quiet WHITE Christmas with just our little family before heading over to our friend’s house for an amazing dinner.  Christmas is a season that is marked by the worship of Jesus and because of that we made some changes on how our future Christmas celebrations will look like.

“It starts with Jesus. It ends with Jesus. This is the holistic approach God had in mind for Christmas. It’s a season where we are called to put down our burdens and lift a song up to our God. It’s a season where love wins, peace reigns, and a king is celebrated with each breath. It’s the party of the year. Entering the story of advent means entering this season with an overwhelming passion to worship Jesus to the fullest.” – Advent Conspiracy

If you (and we’re speaking to you, Grandparents, haha) feel the need, you can spoil the kids on their birthdays, because that is a day to celebrate THEM. On Christmas, though, because it’s His birthday and not ours, we ask that you only get them ONE gift, and if you must, a small stocking stuffer would be okay too. While “Santa” will no longer be a part of our celebration (we will be educating them about the REAL St. Nicholas and his devotion to Jesus and the poor), those stockings will hold the party favors to our celebration of Jesus birth.

We understand that you enjoy spoiling the kids (and us!), but we ask that you join with us in teaching the kids about the true meaning of Christmas. Plus, we would much rather you use the money you save to put away towards coming to visit. We want you to invest time and memories with the kids rather than with toys they won’t remember a week from now ;)  As Jesus said himself that if you give to the least of these, you are really giving to Him.  As for Josh and I, we ask that instead of spending money on us, that you instead send a gift through Compassion International, or any other cause/charity that you see fit. http://www.compassion.com/catalog.htm. 

We do know that for some people gifts are important to how you celebrate so if you must send a gift, we ask that you put a little love into a homemade gift or card and save that money towards visiting us as well. Memories with you all are much more valuable than anything we could ever receive!

January has been pretty boring so far (besides my little man walking!) Negative 20 and below temperatures pretty much keep us indoors most days. There is a ton of stuff to do around here for the kids though and most of it is free or less than $10 so it is nice to have those options for when we feel like we are going stir crazy. The most exciting thing this month was that we added a new member to our family, a 3 year old husky/malamute mix named Kona Delta. Her original name was Delta, but according to her previous owner, she never really answered to it, and we found that to be true as well. Her coloring reminds us of coffee, so Kona it is…reminds us of Hawaii as well ;) While she isn’t the easiest breed to own (they are like having another child), Kona is super sweet and actually pretty obedient. If you do your research enough on any breed before you get one, there is a lot you can do to make life much easier for everyone in the house. Apparently instead of doing what normal people do and buying a little souvenir for each place we move, we adopt an animal. Gizmo – Hawaii, Duchess – Virginia, and now Kona – Alaska.  That habit needs to, no, MUST stop here haha

Well that’s more than enough of an update. Perhaps I’ll actually keep up with this thing now? I guess we’ll see next month!

Green Bean Casserole

4 cans French style green beans, drained

8oz package sliced mushrooms, sautéed in butter

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup (½ pint) heavy cream

10oz white Vermont cheddar cheese, cubed for easy melting

10 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and chopped

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 .Combine soup, cream and cheese is large saucepan and heat over medium high heat, stirring constantly until cheese is melted.

2. Stir in green beans, mushrooms and bacon, transfer to large casserole dish.

Busy Mom's Carrot Cake

1 package carrot cake mix (discard carrot package)

1 package instant vanilla pudding mix

4 eggs

¾ cup vegetable oil

½ cup coconut rum

10oz package shredded carrots, chopped in food processor

8oz can crushed pineapple

Preheat oven to 350°

1. In large bowl beat eggs with cake mix. Add pudding mix, oil and rum. Mix well.

2. In a small bowl mix together carrots and pineapple (with juice).

3. Stir into cake batter.

4. Bake in 2 greased and floured 9 inch cake pans for 30 minutes or 9x13 inch pan for 35 minutes.

5. Cool completely and refrigerate overnight for flavors to develop.

6. Frost with preferred icing.

April 2011

April Highlights:

A visit from Nana

4/16 -  Alexander turned 4 months + Walk for Lupus

4/24  - Easter

4/28 Isabella, 17 months (I cannot believe she is going to be 1 ½ next month…insane!)

Of course a visit from Nana wouldn’t be complete without her buying out half the toy and clothing store. Isabella had tons of fun running around ToysRus showing Nana everything and was definitely over stimulated by the end.  Alexander of course had no idea what was going on, but thanks to Nana he now has some man toys and doesn’t have to play with only pink stuff! The kids now have enough clothes to last them until Winter, but since we won’t know where we are moving until the end of July we can’t buy anything past this summer for them. Kind of annoying because instead of stocking up on all the season clearance we are going to have to buy it all at full price, yuck.  And while Isabella is always wearing her appropriate month size, it is clear that Alexander will be wearing a size ahead haha. Most of you know that I was adopted, so for me it’s fascinating watching them and seeing how similar and how different siblings from the same DNA can be.

Alexander’s 4 month appointment went well! He is developing right on track and is 13oz and 1 inch bigger than Isabella was at this age…he’s our little chunky monkey!

Isabella has gone a full week of no accidents and asking to go every time so I think it’s time that we work on going potty everywhere we go since she is terrified of all potties that are not in our house. We no longer do potty treats, so maybe I’ll have to put some in my purse to bribe her with in the store! We aren’t going to work on nighttime potty until after we move. She is still in a crib and I know there is a lot of change headed her way so for now I’ll be grateful for only having to use 1 diaper a day (I guess technically 2 with nap time)

Of course in crazy Virginia weather fashion it was raining during the Walk for Lupus. The kids didn’t have a complaint, but that’s because they didn’t have to walk 3.1 miles in the rain, they were all bundled up in their stroller buntings covered by a rain shield. Oh to be a toddler again HA! I woke up that morning with a cold, so that made everything more miserable, but we ended up having a lot of fun and we were happy that we could support our friend. The day was complete with family snuggle time at home with hot chocolate to warm up afterwards.

Easter was a fun day! Isabella was too little last year to do anything, so it was fun to watch her open her Easter basket and hunt for eggs. Seeing her on her insane sugar high for the rest of the day just reinforced why we hardly give her sugar lol while it was funny for us to watch, we kind of felt bad for her too because you could see the wild look in her eyes and the fact that she didn’t know how to control how crazy she was being. Even our friends who came for Easter dinner noticed she had lost her mind haha. Needless to say she slept GREAT that night. We enjoyed having everyone over for Easter, but it was bittersweet as well. It’s the last holiday we will be spending with those people here in Virginia and we are so grateful that everyone was able to come!

April was a good month for me! The Dr. said that I have post partum stress disorder which is in between the normal “baby blues” and post partum depression.  She thinks it stems from the fact that this time around with Alexander, Josh and I didn’t have the same support system we did with Isabella and with jumping from 1 to 2 kids with Isabella being at such a young age that it's not a good idea for anyone to be "alone". That’s the military life for you though. People move, we move, “shit happens” haha but I have great resources now and a “plan of attack” to get back to normal…whatever that means! J

Bourban Pecan Cake

1  package betty crocker butter pecan cake mix (usually found at Walmart)

Bottom Layer

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 cups chopped pecans

2 eggs

Top Layer

½ cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

½ cup makers mark

Preheat oven to 325°

1. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

2. Set aside ¾ cup of the cake mix.

3. Prepare bottom layer:

In a large bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, cake mix (minus the 3/4 cup),water, pecans and eggs. Mix well.

4. Spread batter into pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

5. Prepare top layer:

In a large bowl, combine butter, eggs, milk, sugar, corn syrup and reserved cake mix. Mix well and pour over first layer.

6. Bake for 40  minutes.

Welcome to our life...

Well I finally jumped on the blog bandwagon ha!

I decided that this is would perfect way to keep everyone updated on the goings on in our life since I always feel like I'm repeating myself and probably end up leaving stuff out when we talk! It's also a good way to share the recipes I get asked for.

 My goal is to keep this updated about once a month, but I'm not promising anything, as those with kids understand...life with two tiny ones can get hectic. In fact, as I'm typing this I have a certain handsome little man sleeping on me leaving me with only one hand to type haha

It's April in Virginia which brings rain, sun, and more rain. The weather this month is horrible 50's one day, 80 the next and although I am over the cold weather, I dread the summer months here. Hot and humid. yuck! Our time at Quantico has come to an end so thankfully this will be the last summer I have to endure here! Josh heads to recruiter school in July and we should be moving sometime in September. We are requesting Alaska so fingers crossed that we get it! Otherwise our choices are as follows: Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Texas, New York and New Hampshire. We wanted to take this opportunity and use it to live in a place that we would normally not be going during our Marine Corps rotation. It's all in God's hands though so no matter where we end up we'll bloom and thrive as normal. It's only ever for 3 years anyways!

Isabella is 16 month and quite the sassy little princess. She is talking up a storm and while she may not always know the words to say, it's amazing how she gets her point across. She has a love affair with food, but still a tiny little 19lb thing. Don't know where she got those genes from, but I'm jealous! and since "cup" was her first word she likes to scream it with gusto lol. I think it's exciting for her when she realizes that she is saying something and we understand her! She is pretty much potty trained now except for a few accidents here and there and at night so that's a huge relief to the monthly budget as far as buying diapers go!

Alexander is going to be 4 months on Saturday and growing like a weed. Seriously this kid is going to be huge. When Nana came to visit for a week he was wearing 3 month clothing and when Nana left he was wearing 6 month clothes. crazy growth spurt! He is my favorite baby in the whole wide world. Isabella is my pride and joy, but she was kind of a boring baby lol she never really smiled or laughed until way after 6 months. She spent most of her time just looking around taking life in. Alexander on the other hand loves to smile and giggle at me. It truly melts my heart.  He does take after his sister as far as tummy time goes though. Hates it. He is good for about maybe a minute and then rolls over and won't go back on his belly for anything. I used to worry with Isabella, but she turned out just fine so oh well, that's what they made bumbo's for right?

I love watching the kids play together now. Alexander just smiles at his sister like she is the best thing in the world. Of course he doesn't realize that when she is violently shaking him in the jumparoo or bouncing him crazy in the bouncer that she isn't playing, but ignorance is bliss right? Both of the kids are chatty things so I can't wait until they can really talk to each other, they are never going to shut up!

Josh is slowly counting down the days until he is out of here! Quantico has been fantastic for us as a family, and for him to get all the extra training done but it's time to move on. He is disappointed that he won't be able to be a Drill Instructor, but knows that he will thrive at recruiting because that is where God has placed him. He is enjoying the time he has with the kids now, since for the next 3 years that time will be limited  :(

As for me, life is actually pretty fantastic these days. Going from 1 to 2 kids has been easier and harder than I ever thought haha but I have learned a lot of the "harder" is from my own doing. I am a perfectionist at heart and once you have kids you have to learn to reevaluate what you consider to be "perfect"! I'm getting there, slowly, but surely and have a fantastic support system which is key. "Let Go and Let God" right?

Well I think that's a long enough update for now and I hear my little princess upstairs opening and shutting the drawer next to her crib so I'm going to take that as a sign that naptime is over!

- Christiana on behalf of the Rehm clan :)