Not in my time

*Updated at bottom*


I am sitting in my hotel room on base while my children sleep peacefully in their respected beds, waiting for Joseph to get off of work with news of either our impending departure or three more days of hanging out here.




If we do get the go ahead we will pack up tonight, rent a car tomorrow morning and be on our merry way before the morning is over.



If on the other hand today is just like the eight days that have already passed and we do not get the go ahead to leave, we will continue to sit tight until Monday and enjoy the time we are getting alone as a family for the first time in 4 months.

So you see for me either is the perfect situation.

*Update*

Well it looks like we will be sitting tight for the time being, so Joseph is off renting a car for the weekend so that we can better explore the city around us. While the train is awesome it is supposed to rain on and off all weekend, and well I have already learned that lesson. We plan on heading to the children museum tomorrow along with some other fun and educating things.
If we don't have orders to leave by Monday evening then I will be renting a car on Tuesday and driving up to the 'ville on my own with the boys.
ok cranky baby on board so off I go!

Note to self

Note to Self,

Always check the weather channel before going on a mile and half walk to the train station, riding on the train, walking to dinner, getting groceries, getting back on the train and walking a mile and a half back home regardless of how beautiful and clear the skies were when you left. Because of course its going to start raining as soon as you start walking to the grocery store, and of course its going to keep raining while you wait for the train to come, which I might add was late, and will start raining harder as soon as you get off of the train and need to walk a mile and a half to get home. While pushing your two small children in a stroller, at 9:00 at night.

Good thing Joseph can run fast.

It has been a busy four days, but we are so glad to finally be here! As you can tell by the pictures Conner was/is ecstatic to see his dad. I will have to post more later, but for now I just wanted to share some of the pictures.

Dads,

babies,

trains

graduations,

and grandparents

oh my!

Got all that?

Two car seats?
Check.

Luggage?

Check.

Playpen?

Check.

Stroller, crazy car seat attachment and two little boys?

Check, check and check.

An audience as I work my behind off to get it all together?

Check.
At least they are cute

Chicago here we come!

Its hard to believe that we are almost down to the last 24 hours of being in this particular chapter of our lives. What chapter would that be you ask? Well people we seemed to have finally arrived to chapter two. Chapter one started many years ago in the very beginning of our marriage when Joseph became unemployed for the first time. Fast forward to last June where we found ourselves unemployed for the fourth time in so many years, but now with two children added to the mix. We knew God was trying to tell us something but it always seemed just out of reach because we would try and try to do things right, but we seemed to always end up back at chapter one. Then one day after much prayer Joseph approached me about joining the Navy.

Chapter two finally began.

You have to understand that for the past four years of our marriage I would balk whenever he would teasingly bring up joining the military. There was no way I could make that sacrifice, I was and am far to selfish. But this time it was different. As Joseph spoke I kept waiting for the panic to set it, I knew it had to be right around the corner but instead I felt the Lords presence surrounding me with peace and acceptance. I laughed to myself, I could not believe how right I knew this was. Suddenly this wasn't about me or Joseph, this wasn't about us trying to do what was right, it was about the millionth chance the Lord was giving us at making the right choice. To trust and follow Him.

Since we have taken that leap life has been more challenging and painful then it has before, but it has also been so so so much richer. Through all of it He is carrying us close to His heart, guiding us through the storm and showing us what faith really is. And its not our faith that is carrying us through, it is His.

This time has brought me so much closer to understanding the sacrifice that God selflessly made for us. He chose death so that we could have life, so that I could have life. So that my little boys would have the chance to come to know Him. He has shown me that it was love. Can you imagine that type of love?

He gave us a second chance even though we didn't and don't deserve it. But because of His love for me and my family he has graced us with another chance to love him.

Oh how I wish I had the words I am searching for to tell you everything that He means to me, all the great things that I see Him doing in our lives! But instead I must settle with this jargled mess of a post and pray that the Lord shows you the true meaning of my words.

Smashingly festive

I couldn't help myself, I just needed to post pictures of the boys in their matching Easter outfits because they were just so smashingly festive. Because of Brooks skin issues I never put him in shorts, but decided that for this one day we would have to brake the rule.




On other great news Brooks has been healed of his allergies! Praise God! I am still in shock and am having a hard time trusting that this is real, but we had him tested and the results came back normal. Wow. Before we went in for the testing I prayed that the results would come back this way, but sometimes seeing a prayer answered is just mind boggling. We have been a peanut free home for so long now that suddenly being able to not have to constantly be on the look out is strange.But so so wonderful because now so many fears about how my little boys life was going to look have been thrown out the window! I guess I should add that we had just started introducing eggs to his diet and he had had a reaction to those also, just weeks ago. Wonderfully mind boggling. He still has some bad itchies on his back, but we are praying for that too.
The Lord gives and takes away!

Airplanes and such

*Edited to change the day we are leaving. While I would love to leave Tuesday (tomorrow) I don't think we would have much luck at the airport.

Conner is obsessed with airplanes and trains. Absolutely obsessed. If you put blocks in his hands 5 minutes later he will hand you one of those two things and ask you to fly or ride along with him. Every time we get into the car Conner asks me if we will be going on an airplane yet and when the answer is a negative he replies with "almost time, almost airplane all done, see Dada", which translated means "Its almost time to go on an airplane and see Dada".
I cannot wait for Wednesday morning to come and for me to tell my sweet little boy that we are finally going on an airplane to see Dada.






Oh, and Joseph has promised to take Conner on the train while we are there. I think our little boy is going to be over the moon. Dada, planes and trains!

Details Details

Time for the details... well the best details I can do while being apart of the military, since they can change at any moment until they are written in stone, err I mean paper. The boys and I will be in the "ville sometime after April 24th, so you better be ready for us! I am so excited to get a chance to go home before we get to our final destination. There are some brand new babies that need to be held, parents that need some baby boy love and friends that need hugs. (Rebekah I miss you so much and cannot wait to spend time with you!)
We will most likely be there for a week, but like I said nothing is for sure. There is a small chance Joseph will get to join us, so if you wouldn't mind please lift that possibility up in prayer!

Also please be praying for me in these final days before our move. I am struggling with a lot right now, mainly with getting to be me. I have felt like I have been posting only fluff for the past couple months and I am getting tired of it, but I have so many things pulling me from being able to be me right now, and you know what? I miss me. Some days I cannot wait to be back with Joseph just so that I can be Meaghan again but as soon as I think that I cannot help but think of how ridiculous it is that I cannot be me now. Oh the tangled webs we weave. Or that are woven for us. I so badly want to be around friends that understand me, who love me for all my quirks and even seem to think I am a pretty cool person just because I am me. I cannot wait to see you all.

There is no other

I am sure there are only a handful of states that can boast of having weather warm enough on Easter to go swimming...


and it just so happens that we are in one of them.


Right now I am sitting on my king size hotel bed resting with Conner while Brooks takes a nap in the bathroom...ok that doesn't look so good on paper, but trust me its big bathroom. Soon I will be waking up the little one and we will be heading over to my grandparents house for dinner and then back here for bed. Have I mentioned that my hotel is only a two minute walk away from the beach?

Yesterday my parents played hooky from work to go to the zoo with the boys and I. It was such a wonderful treat! We had originally planned on going this past weekend but then decided we would enjoy the experience more without all the crowds. Its so nice to be able to let Conner run ahead of me and not worry about him getting lost among all the people, its also nice to have a Grammie and Grandpa along to chase after him...
I was able to put to good use my new stroller (ok who am I kidding, I think I have used every day since I got it three weeks ago) that I got off of Craigslist for a steal. I had been wanting this stroller for a good long time, but it is an investment so when I saw it on craigslist for 1/3 of the price I jumped up and down for joy. Especially because earlier that day Joseph and I had finally decided to start putting the money away to purchase one before I headed to see him for his graduation. Man God is awesome! Because it is just a stroller I wont keep babbling about it, but lets just say I have used a lot of different double strollers and this one takes the cake. Being able to steer it around sharp corners with one hand while the other is full is an amazingly freeing experience.
On to other news...I will see Joseph in 13 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh the excitement of getting to see him is getting out of hand, but that's ok because seven months apart will do that to a gal and her guy. Some days all Conner can talk about is getting on a plane to go see Dada, he will tell me all about sitting on the plane, flying the plane and finally getting off of the plane and seeing the man he misses so much. I think when we actually do get on the plane in 13 days he may go into shock...for that matter so may I.
We also finally have orders and an order date, meaning we have a place to go and a time to be there. The C school he will be attending will start at the end of May, but he has to be on base for work by the 9th of May. This is such wonderful and unexpected news! Originally it was looking like he would have to stay where he already is for the time in between graduating and starting C school, meaning the kids and I would most likely be apart from him for another three weeks before finally getting to our permanent duty station. Now it will only be a week! Woohoo!

The post in which I use many exclimation points

We finally have orders and a move date!
God is good
I will be seeing my hubby in two weeks!
God is good
Our sons will get to see their dad!
God is good
I'm coming to Louisville!
God is good
I get to love on family!
God is good
I get to hug my best friend and her children!
God is good
New babies will be there to love on!
God is good
I will see my totally awesome cousin Katie in 3 days!
God is good
We will have an answer about Brooks' allergies tomorrow!
God is awesome

A red break

The weather here has been so nice for well over the past month that we have practically lived at the different parks near our home. The boys love going and I love seeing the joy that it brings them. I must admit that a big reason for this post is simply to show that Conner does wear a different shirt other then then red one. I just love how the color red photographs, so when I know I am going to be taking pictures into red they go! But green is a good color too don't you think?

Miss you some Conner faces

This past weekend Conner and I were sitting on the back deck enjoying some popsicles when we decided to have some camera fun. Most of the time Conner does an excellent job of ignoring the camera, but on that day he was having fun cheesing it up for me. He is really quite the personality, especially when he is trying to be silly.

Who me?

CHEEEEEEESE

The hysterical laugh after seeing that crazy cheese face

la laaaaaa

a moment of reflection

Itch Itch scratch scratch

Baby boy Brooks

being

bothered by

bodaciously burdensome

breakouts

About the only place without an itch to scratch is the bottom of his precious feet