november.... seems so long ago

i'm so behind with my blogging and i really need to catch up since i have so many blogs now that i need to post but want to keep them in order... so here we go.  here's november...

first up was the MLG ball.  Ours took place on base this time which was super nice.. childcare was provided for free and daniel did awesome.  he was totally asleep when we picked him up which is impressive considering there were a couple babies crying very loudly...

we got all dressed up.  i wore a ball gown from my junior voice recital at BYU... luckily i kept all those dresses! and thought to bring them with me to North Carolina.  Chris got all fancy in his winter dress blues... he sure looks handsome in them... he thinks he looks like an airline pilot.  ha! he does a little.  but thats still hot right?!  the night was filled with a lot of pomp and circumstance... a lot of standing at attention... long speeches.... stand up sit down fight fight fight... ha... just kidding. but really the first hour or so is slow and a little boring.  and the food was just ok... what was fun was the people at our able... we always like ebony and victor as we went to dental school with them... and victor and i just tease each other the whole time... to others we may seem like we are just rude to one another but we have a nice understanding of the others humor.  and then the hicks family sat with us as well.. ive gotten to know her pretty well from being on the NOSC board together.  they brought his great uncle with them and his wife and let me tell you... this old couple was a hoot.... she's a little off her rocker and provided much entertainment through the long speeches.  my favorite part was after dinner started the dancing.  i went out with several of the senior officers' wives and we danced.... a lot and a little crazy. but it was so fun.  the generals wife even joined us for a bit.  by the end of the night my feet were so tired but we had a good time....

my mom was supposed to come visit us in october and had to cancel last minute so she came out for vetrans day weekend instead.  daniel of course loved having his grandma here to play with him.... and it was so funny how well he remembers certain games he plays with just grandma. or things he just says to her... super cute.

 one day we headed out to mikes farm and fed the goats they have roaming all over... you can pay a quarter and get a handful of feed and daniel had no problem putting his hand out and letting them eat.  or walking right up to them and petting them... granted he thought they were dogs and kept barking and panting at them... haha.  then we enjoyed dinner with my favorite symes family.  it was really fun to go to dinner with them since Mitch was leaving on monday for Afghanistan.  dinner was served family style with big bowls of food placed on the table that you pass around and its unlimited how much you want.  really fun night.

the next day we headed out to new bern to explore that little town.  first we visited tryon palace... which is where the original governor of north carolina lived.... like pre revolutionary war time... the whole house was really neat.  i love old historic houses.... this was actually a replica as the original had been burned to the ground.  we also went through some of the other historic houses near by... all just fascinating.  how they lived.... especially in the crazy hot humid summers... with no ac!  i would never have lasted.  

we also visited a cemetary.... my sister emily is obsessed with old cemeteries... so naturally we have become more obsessed over the years.  this one had some super old graves... our favorite was of the british officer who wanted to be burried standing up saluting to his king in england... thats just funny... and kinda neat.

we also stopped by real quick to a friends house for a little byu party for a big game they were in... the babies were so funny jumping on the tramp...

sunday was a fun day to have mom there as i was leading my first primary program in sacrament meeting.  we have so many kids in our primary and such a big stage we fill every bit of it... so i actually stood on a little box in the middle of the 5th row so the kids could see me.... it was a little embarassing.. sorry to those sitting behind me. the kids did so good.  i was very proud and plenty choked up.  

monday we headed out to fort macon.... old military base on the edge of emerald isle.  it has been used in several wars.... dating far far back and all the way to world war two where they used it to fight off u-boats.... neat right?  its basically a dug in fort with 5 foot thick walls... or something like that... it used to have like 50 canon that surrounded the top.  daniel had a great time running around with his dad even on top of the fort.... 

we also wondered around the little downtown port area... we were hoping daniel would fall asleep but he never did.... so we walked for a bit and then drove home instead of getting lunch.  but we did find this memorial for one of the astronauts that was on the space shuttle challenger.... chris was impressed he was a captain in the navy. 

the last big event of november was thanksgiving.  we spent the day with our friends the stanleys.  they invited us over for dinner and dessert.... it was all really yummy.  daniel at one point found a nice muddy puddle to jump in so he ended up playing the last hour or so with no pants on.... ha!

in exciting news i finally got my final crown put on my implant... not bad eh?  i think it looks great.  so glad it all over and i never think of it... ever... i just now have a permanent front tooth...

daniel is such a flirt... wherever we go he smiles at people around us and puts on this hilarious bashful face.... 

he's also fascinated with seeing himself on my phone so we end up doing a lot of selfies... haha

we randomly had snow one day.... late at night it just started snowing... weird! it didn't stay at all the next day... but it sure was cold. 

chris and i went on a date night to see the sandra bullock movie gravity... like my worst night mare floating no where in space... but it was really good... fun date night that i'm sure started with panera bread since we are obsessed since it opened here this month... or last...

we also love family trips to sweet frog... as you can see daniel definitely loves his ice cream. as do i!

and i just thought this was a classy picture of chris.  you're welcome.

daniel is becoming more and more adventurous and independent...he climbed up this step stool and grabbed a banana and peeled it all on his own.... i was impressed... its just not his nature.  i know that seems weird but really hes not a risk taker at all... funny kid... and he loves bananas!

i also love the moment when the trees going into our neighborhood all turn at the same time... how pretty is that?!  we just dont see that in the desert.

 

October was awesome...

I feel so bad not keeping up better with this journal.... and now that its the next year i really need to get on it so i can keep current with 2014... and not be behind all year.  october seemed so busy but not really a lot happened.... since it was halloween we had a couple parties... church had a party two weeks before halloween... we borrowed an elmo costume from a friend.  daniel loved looking at him and would say elmo over and over at the sight of it... until we put it on him and then he wouldnt move or do anything.  not sure what to think of elmo sitting on top of his head.

we also went for our first family theme and chris and i dressed up as mr. noodle and miss. noodle from elmos world...

most people with small children recognized who we were.  i thought it was hilarious.  daniel had fun running around crazy till he face planted on this gym floor and got a huge fat and bloody lip.  good thing elmo was already red.  

looking more like big bird than elmo

i also attended a NOSC (Navy Officer Spouse Club) bunco night and i dressed up as a 70's disco chick for that.... but i only took a pic of my big hair... sadly you cant see my awesome burnt orange jumpsuit...

by the time real halloween came around we were all dressed up-out... so we didnt dress up... we went to our neighborhood block party at the park.  they had bounce houses... free food... pony rides... and music.  we met some friends there and had a good time... we walked home in time for the neighborhood parade to pass our house then we sat in chairs at the end of our driveway to pass out candy... once i could see the trick or treaters fading out the last couple kids got massive handfuls of candy as i didn't want any left in our house. 

chris daniel and i all ended up with the flu at some point this month.  i had insane migraine and fever and shakes and nausea and couldnt get out of bed for 24 hours... and couldnt sleep.  daniel had a little fever and some nausea/ vommiting... chris had all of the above... poor guy always gets it the worst in our house...

i was looking at pictures of my niece amanda at daniels age and seriously my sister and i gave birth to the same baby... here they are at the same age...

amanda... daniel

he's also getting to be a lot more daring these days... climbing on things... walking down stairs alone... climbing on lots of stuff... its fun to see him explore.  he is still super cautious so i never have to worry too much what he's up to.

i also got an awesome gift this month... some tools!!!! now i can do lots of crafts and things i really have wanted to do and now i can!! yay! some fun stuff is in my future... and the store clerk was totally lame and like wow this is a nice gift for your husband and i was like... no they are mine thank you!

daniel has been so good going to my check up appointments with me.  my implant is doing awesome (i actually got my permanent crown in november!!) hes really good at listening carefully to the doctor and quietly waiting our turn.  here's what this implant looks like on x ray....

selfies at the dentists office

elmo is a daily occurrence at this household.  we watch elmos world at least once... and he watches and plays at the same time.. one day i decided to pull out his little sleeping bag and he layed on the floor and watched the whole dvd.  it was pretty cute..

he also had a lot of fun one day doing his own hair.. with some lotion.  he thought he was so funny and awesome.  luckily all the mess was on his hair and a little on the dresser.

he also likes to help me clean.  i need to clean more often when hes awake so he willl keep helping.  sometimes he's just in the way but oh well right? how else will he learn.

he loves to make faces at himself on the phone... and then we end up with a bunch of pics of himself... with dried yogurt around his mouth... awesome right?

he loves cars.  if i haven't said it enough. he loves cars. plays with them all day.  he sits on this stool and pushes them around the chair and then he kneels at the coffee table and pushes them around that and then he kneels at the fireplace and moves them around there.. all day.  its too funny..

aunt sharon sent us this super cute baby pluto doll and daniel loves it. it mostly stays in his bed for night time but this one day he had to have it everywhere he went including the swing at the park.  

while hanging out with our good friends the millers chris was playing a game on his phone and pretty soon all the kids were gathered around him watching intently.... i'm not sure chris even noticed the kids for a long time as he was way into the game too... haha  and aida was having fun showing me her giant diamond.  she's my little friend who i really like as she reminds me so much of amanda.... who i miss a ton.  love when we get to hang out with this family.

that was basically october.... good month.  happy times were had even though we were super sick for a bit of it.... 

september...

september was a laid back month.  we didn't have very much going on.  Chris was busy getting used to his new clinic and loving it.  i have to admit i'm loving it too.  its nice to have him home earlier in the day.  and daniel is loving it since everyday chris walks in the door, daniel pounces on him to come play.  if weather is good they go outside and run around the front yard and push his little car around or chase dogs that walk by.  then they usually go out in the backyard for a while play in daniel little pay house and slide.

playing tickle war 

daniels number one obsession right now is all things elmo!  he asks to watch elmos world at least once a day and he sits so nicely and watches it or quietly plays with a car while he watches.  he also tries to put the dvd in himself which means he pushes the whole case underneath the player.  he also has amazing elmo radar.  any store we go in he can spot the tiniest picture of elmo a mile away.  its pretty incredible...

we did have one week where he and i were super tired from him being sick and getting no sleep all night long.  but it was nice to have the cuddles all day from this busy little man.

there was one day i was having a bad day and chris sent me this pretty flowers.  it was a nice surprise and very sweet of him.  i dont usually like flowers but these were just perfect timing i guess. 

my little guy is getting so big! he looks like such a little boy now instead of a baby.  not that he ever looked a lot like a baby but he sure is getting big.  he is still the happiest little guy.  smiles and laughs like crazy.  is starting to talk more and more all the time.  

i couldn't get him to leave the ac units alone in the back yard and it was the only thing setting me back from being able to let him play outside alone... so i got fancy and put up some chicken wire with poles or some garden fencing and wrapped it around the units.  he was not too happy but it keeps him safe.  

loves taking pictures of himself.  especially when i hold the camera so he can see himself.  he just thinks hes so cute.  

we've made some really good friends out here in jacksonville.  lately i've been spending a lot of time with sara and her three little girls.  we took a trip out to wilmington for a little shopping and took turns waiting in the car with these napping babes.  they really like to play together.  even though daniel doesn't quite get how to play with others that well yet, he still likes having them around.  especially when we go to their house.  they have a dog!! daniel starts barking the second we turn onto their street knowing we are going to see the dog.  its too funny.  and shes a very good dog that lets daniel pat her and poke her in the eye and nose and lay with her in bed.  its a special bond for sure.  ha!

we've enjoyed having chris work over at the New River air station as it is only 15 min from our house so daniel and i occassionally stop by for lunch and say hi.  chris spins daniel around on his chair and i generally chase him around the halls when he runs out of the office.  

i signed up at my gym to do these small group classes.  they generally have like 4 or 5 people in each class.  its called onfit training.  kinda like cross fit but less intense.  its an awesome workout and for the first time ever i'm consistently going to the gym 3 times a week.  i also have become friends with the girls i work out with since its the same 5 of us every week with a few others here and there.  its been fun to get stronger and feel like i'm doing something good on those days.

daniels been trying to get better at feeding himself with a spoon... but its not pretty.... here's his awesome yogurt face.

he's also discovered how much he loves to lay on the floor... he will randomly plop down on the floor and play with a car or just lay there... in church, in my bathroom, on our family room floor, on the fireplace, on the stairs.... on the sand.  and sometimes he even throws fits laying on the floor.

here he is enjoying his first sucker... i know seems a little late in life but he wasn't ever interested before and i know it just makes a huge mess... and it did.  but he liked it.... haha

he also loves reading books at night with his dad.  lately his favorite has been go dog go... he can even read the first page.

ive been doing a lot of crafting lately which means many trips to lowes and home depot... chris keeps daniel entertained by pushing carts around while i look at wood and paint and what not....

september was a good month with not a whole lot going on for us... just a nice relaxing easy month.