Hail to the CHIEF!!

We survived the Selectee Season!  It was a rough 6 weeks, but we survived and now...he's a CHIEF!!  His pinning ceremony was this past Friday.  It was all a little crazy.  He'd had to stay on base the night before for the Final Night, so it was just us girls.  We got up and out of the house with plenty of time to make it to the ceremony on time.  Early, even.  I went right there without making any wrong turns (it's quite a ways away, and I've been there only a few times), and pulled in to the parking lot with 15 minutes to spare.  I was feeling rather pleased with myself, until I realized that the parking lot was packed.  After asking one of the base security personnel, I further realized that I would have to park across the street fully a block away from the chapel.  Suddenly, I had no extra time.  At all.  By the time we walked into the chapel, they were ready to start.  Thank goodness his sponsor had had the foresight to save seats for us; otherwise we would have been standing along the back wall of the chapel.  As it was, the line of Selectees was filing into the chapel singing "Anchors Aweigh" as I was getting us settled into our seats.  Ugh.  I really, really hate feeling rushed and flustered.  But we made it, and that's the important thing.

The Selectees, lined up across the front of the chapel, singing the last bit of "Anchors Aweigh".

The girls had been excited to go see Daddy in theory, but the reality was not at all to their tastes.  Kaylie spent the first bit of the ceremony playing with her mini magnadoodle and wasn't too fidgety, but Elora had left hers in the car and was quite, quite bored.  As she reminded me approximately every 2 minutes, throughout all the speakers, and the pinning of the few people who were ahead of Brandon.

Elora kept saying "Mama, this is too boring."

Brandon was, I think, the fourth of fifth person (of twelve) to be pinned.  I'd assumed that his sponsor, or perhaps his commanding officer would be the one to actually pin the anchors to his collar, but I saw from those first few that it was actually the families of the new Chiefs who did the pinning.  I passed my camera off to  the lady sitting in front of me, with the request that she take pictures for us, right before it was his turn.  But we were to the side and slightly behind where he was standing, and she was unfamiliar with the camera, so we didn't get much in the way of pictures.  

There was a Navy photographer there, though, and we were told that all the families would receive a photo disk with all the pictures from the ceremony.  Let me just tell you, I cannot wait to get my hands on that CD!!

They took pictures not only of the pinning process, but snapped a few family shots immediately after that I am just dying to have.  After the pictures, Brandon's sponsor placed his new cover--the last piece of his new uniform--on his head.

No more white hats for this guy.  :)

After that, both girls had officially lost patience with sitting still and being quiet.  Kaylie had gotten bored with the magnadoodle, and naturally, as soon as she set it down, Elora picked it up.  And just as naturally, as soon as Elora picked it up, Kaylie wanted it back.  I had a little bit of white model magic (it's kind of like a light weight play-dough) in the diaper bag, so I got it out for Kaylie.  But when Elora saw what Kaylie had, she was no longer interested in the magnadoodle either.  I ended up splitting it between the two girls, and it  successfully kept them occupied for the rest of the ceremony.  All I had to do was to keep Elora from trying to appropriate bits from Kaylie's half, and to remind them that they still needed to be quiet.  Oy.   

All in all, they were quite good.  The ceremony last for about an hour, and by the time it was done, neither one wanted anything to do with being still or quiet, or in Elora's case, even remotely cooperative.  We tried to do our own family photo, but well, like I said.  "Still" and "cooperative" were out.  This was the best we got.  Honestly, I kind of like it.  Every time I look at it, I will always remember that Elora wanted to hide and Kaylie wanted to run and I was just so proud that I didn't care.  This picture will always make me smile.  :)

An Overdue Announcement

We're expecting baby number 3 in January!  This pregnancy has been very different from the first two, which were pretty mellow.  This time around, I spent the first trimester feeling perpetually car sick, I've been craving salty snacks as well as the sweet stuff, and I've been a psychopath noticeably hormonal.  Since the first two were both girls, I was convinced from early on that I had to be having a boy this time. We went in on the 9th for the anatomy scan, and found out that I'd been right!  

He seems to be doing perfectly well.  He's developing normally, and I haven't had any complications.  After the scare we had with Kaylie, this has been an incredible relief.  As a matter of fact, we didn't even tell the immediate family about the pregnancy until we were out of the first trimester, just in case.  And, obviously, we held off on a "public" announcement until now--partly so that we could share the gender at the same time, and partly just to be extra safe.  I'm at about 19 weeks now, so we're almost to the halfway point.  I can already feel him  moving around.  :)

As you can imagine, being pregnant has made Brandon's Selectee training a bit more difficult for us than it would have been otherwise.  Brandon, bless him, took the time out today to take these pictures, even though today was his only day off and he had a lot of other things he needed to be doing.

I snapped this one while I was trying to get the camera and tripod set up.  I think it's such a sweet picture.  :)

We're all excited about the new addition, especially Elora.  She is completely over the moon that she'll be getting a baby brother.  When we first told her that there'd be a new baby, before we knew the gender, she told us that she "picked a boy", because she already has a little sister.  I'm not sure whether Kaylie understands what's going on, or not.  She still can't articulate much, so it's hard to tell what she thinks.  I keep telling her that there's a baby in my tummy, but she always just looks at me like I'm crazy.  I think Brandon was hoping for a boy this time around, and I'm happy to be able to give him a son.  For my part, I'm a bit intimidated to be having a boy because it will be new and different.  Not to mention the fact that our children will soon out number us!!  So exciting/scary/wonderful.  :)

Getting Settled

Or, well, we're trying to anyway.  Our household goods will not be delivered until Friday and we have no idea when the long term storage stuff will get here, so we're currently sleeping on an air mattress and living out of our suitcases.  BUT, we have a brand new washer and dryer (delivered Friday) so we can do our laundry right here at home.  And, we got a new dining set and a whole new living room set (delivered Saturday) so we have couches to sit on and a dining table to eat at.  I bought towels so we can shower; basic food stuffs so we can eat; disposable plates, cups and silverware so we have something to eat off of; and the sundry soaps and cleaning supplies so we can stay tidy.  Verizon came out on Saturday and hooked up our internet, cable, and telephone.  Of course, we won't have a TV to go with that cable until Friday, and I have no idea when the phones will get here, but the internet is AMAZING.  Hooray! Here are a few pictures of the house, and our new furniture:  

I'll post more pics of the rest of the house later this week. Brandon's budgeting program has gone into cardiac arrest with all the money we've spent since we got here, but it's worth it.  We have a lot of other ideas in mind--such as putting up a fence and replacing the cabinetry in the kitchen-- but we will be spacing those purchases out.

Today is Brandon's first day of work here in Virginia.  I hope it goes well!  After all, he will be working there for the next 3 years, so it wouldn't do for him to start off on the wrong foot.  Elora didn't want to let him leave this morning.  We've both gotten used to him being home with us, so it'll be another adjustment now that he's actually got to go to work every day again.  It'll be very good, though, to get back into a predictable daily routine.

All three of us have gotten sick since we got here.  Elora came down with it first, at the end of last week.  I got the sore throat on Saturday, and Brandon got it on Sunday.  I think I have it the worst.  Brandon and Elora are both stuffy and are feeling pretty crappy, but I've got the nasty sounding cough to go with it.  It'll pass.  I'm just hoping it does so before the movers show up on Friday.

My friend Rebekah continues to be a a great help.  She's been running around with me, keeping us company, and helping me to learn my way around the area.  She's going to come over and spend the day with us on Friday, to be an extra pair of eyes and hands, especially with respect to keeping Elora occupied while we're trying to get everything moved in.  Elora is loving her "Aunt Bekah"!  Han is still staying with her, too.  She waves it all off, especially the cat sitting part.  Han is keeping her kitty company, and both cats seem to be enjoying the situation.

These are a few more pictures that I snapped in the apartment before we left Germany, and they are just too cute not to share.  I especially like the last one.  :)

When We Get Back to the States...

 Living in Germany has been an amazing experience, and in some ways, I am sad to see it end.  For the most part though, I am INSANELY excited to be returning to the country of my birth.  Here are just a few of the reasons why...

...we will have fast internet.  (There are so many reasons that this is exciting for us, I can't even begin to name them all.)

...we will be in the same time zone as the rest of our immediate family, and most of our friends.  (And we'll be a heck of a lot closer to the rest, too.)

...I will be able to download books directly to my Kindle without paying an international fee.


...I will be living within only a few miles of my friend Rebekah.

...we won't have to worry about the dollar-to-euro conversion any more.

...I will be able to open my Etsy shop, without worrying about international shipping.

...we will speak the same language as most of the other residents.

...WE WILL NEVER AGAIN HAVE TO INTERACT WITH THE DREHERS IN ANY WAY.

...we will be starting another chapter in our lives.  This, I think, is the best part.  :)

Almost there!