The Second Half

Almost an entire second half of a year has passed by since my last entry. It has been five and half months which is by far the longest I have gone without updating, and I am so very sorry for leaving you hanging for so long; but as you read on, you will understand why.

I last posted during the first week of July and my baby girl was still very new. My youngest sister, Cherie' aka Myshie was staying with us in California for the Summer, and everything was peachy keen. My youngest brother Kyle visited us in CA for the second time and came at the end of the month for a few days before taking Myshie back to New Orleans with him.

July ended up being an important month for us. Oneday during the middle of the month, Joshua surprised me by coming home on his lunch break. I was excited to see him, but I could tell right away that something was very wrong. I remember asking him why he looked like someone had died. Tears began forming in his eyes and he explained to me that he received orders to deploy to Afghanistan and would have to leave in a couple of months. I was shocked, but calm... surprisingly calm. I suppose this was something that I had been mentally preparing myself for for about five years. I smiled and told him that I would be just fine, but I knew his tears consisted of more than just worry over me. He would have to go months without his boys who waited hours everyday for him to come home from work, and months without his new baby girl who would probably not remember him when he returned.

The picture below was taken on Joshua's birthday, July 19th.  After Joshie got home from work, we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese.  That weekend, we sang "Happy Birthday" to him at the zoo with Tasha, Frank and Isaac.

 

 

We went back and forth with whether I should stay in CA, temporarily move to New Orleans or permenantly move to New Orleans. It was stressful to say the least. Ultimately we decided that I would permenantly move back home with the kids in hopes that he could miraculously get orders back there with us. There was more to our decision but it would all be too difficult for me to explain here. But our decision was made. We would leave CA on August 18th and drive to New Orleans in as few days as possible. If I remember correctly, we made it to New Orleans in three days. The last day, Joshua actually drove about 21 hours straight. Of course it was a nightmare with all three children in the car for that long. The boys fought literally the entire way and after the first day, Marigny spent a lot of time crying.  The first day, Everett threw up several times and had terrible diahrrea.  We had to constantly stop to clean him and the carseat and it was pouring down raining.  Beckham said, "Getting to Nonna's house is hard."  It sure was!

But I need to rewind.  I have a ton of pictures from California so here are some:

 
When I ended my last post in July, I mentioned that Beckham's two front teeth were very loose from bumping heads with Everett, and that one would most likely be gone before my next post. Well that tooth did in fact fall out. It actually fell out the next day! The other tooth hung in there for about five more months and just recently fell out at the end of November. His first missing tooth hung on the refrigerator in CA until we moved out (That was Joshua's doing. Joshie pulled it out one morning when I was still sleeping and hung it there for me to see and we just never took it down). The tooth fairy came for the second one, but Beckham did not want to believe it. He kept insisting that he was awake the entire night and never saw her come.  I recently took him to the mall and he saw a big tooth costume and had to take a picture next to it.  haha!

 

 

  While in Cali, Beckham learned how to write the entire alphabet and even started writing his name for the first time. He also learned how to draw a person, the sun and smiley faces during the summer. He does not like to color. He pretty much only draws. He finally started dressing himself and going to the potty alone in July as well.

Beckham absolutely adores his baby sister. Both boys do, but Beckham actually wants to help take care of her. He always wants to hold her and feed her; and if she cries, he is there to try to soothe her. Everett is always asking to hug and kiss her. He is a sweetheart.

 

 

 

 

We happened to arrive in New Orleans only days before Hurricane Isaac did.  We managed to squeeze in a farewell party with Joshua's friends and family a few days before he left.  It was there that we took our last family pic together. 

Joshua and I spent our last days together in my mom's house with no power, sleeping (if you can call it that) in her livingroom, practically sweating to death because of the storm.  Not at all how we had hoped!  We said our goodbyes in my mom's front yard on August 31st, before my stepdad, Huey drove him to the airport.  It was dreadful and difficult.  I immediately felt so terrible for the boys because they didn't quite understand yet how long they would have to go without him.  And I wasn't quite sure how I was going to survive it. 

I cried a lot those first days or maybe even weeks, mostly at night when he wasn't laying beside me and I knew he wouldn't be tomorrow either.  The first week was the most difficult, and it didn't help that the city was recovering from a Hurricane.  I was staying at my inlaws, but they were out of town in CA that first week.  The refrigerator was empty from the loss of power during the storm and so I had to make my first trip to the grocery with all three kids alone.  Normally we would all go together as a family, or Joshua would take one of the boys or go alone.   That first trip to the grocery was short but stressful.  I carried Marigny in the sling, sat Everett in the front of the basket and Beckham in the back.  I was able to do this because I did not have to fit many groceries in the basket.  Everett kept taking items from the back of the basket and dropping them on the floor which was difficult having to continuously pick them up while carrying Marigny.  Beckham, of course, was following Everett's lead and they both kept fighting.  I remember having a difficult time at the register, trying to get all of the items on the conveyer belt and then having to dig for my wallet to pay.  A lady behind me watched me struggle and lended me a hand.  This would be something that I would adjust to, and there would be many adjustments.  These days I take all three kiddos to walmart or to Target for fun.  They like hanging out in the basket at Target, eating popcorn and cookies while I push them around.  Marigny still hangs out in the sling, although she doesn't care to stay there as long as she used to.  I'm not able to make grocery trips with all three because there would be no room in the basket for groceries, and I am fortunate to have the help of family to watch the boys while Marigny and I go. 

My days are busy and never dull.  I rarely have the opportunity to sit and it is a 24 hour job.  Because it is never ending, it is hard to say when my day begins.  For me, I think it begins during the night as I jump out of bed and race to the room of whoever is crying's so as not to have the others awakened by the cries... maybe it is Beckham complaining that he is hot or cold, wanting me to put on a movie (which I do not), needing cough medicine or wanting me to button his doll Bobby's buttons(!) -Yes, he wakes me for these ridiculous things- or maybe it is Everett throwing one of his nightly tantrums or Marigny needing to eat, be changed or wanting her binky back in her mouth.  I never sleep through the night and it is a real miracle if I only have to get up three times.  The first couple of months I was getting up on average nine times a night, and I felt like a true zombie during the day.  Now I have adjusted.  Lack of sleep does not affect me like it used to.  I have to go many nights in a row with absolutely no sleep for it to drag me down, and that usually only occurs if Marigny is sick like this week.  For a little while, all three were sick and boy was that fun.  I think I was jumping out of bed every ten minutes.  Then the morning comes and I have to make everyone their morning cups of milk, put on cartoons, wipe butts, squeeze in a cup of coffee as soon as possible, feed them breakfast, discipline them, brush their teeth, fix their hair, dress them, discipline them, wipe butts, entertain them, discipline them, feed them again and again, wipe butts, discipline them, bathe them, get them ready for bed, put them in bed, do dishes, put Everett back in bed, clean, put Everett back in bed, oh and put Everett back in bed about three more times, find time for laundry, then finally when they are asleep, I work out.  And, of course, I had to take care of my own needs throughout the day as well.  Although it is all incredibly exhausting, it's not difficult.  I just do it.  The only real challenge that I have not been able to adjust to is living without my best friend.  It's amazing to me that I can be surrounded by people everyday and still feel lonely. 

Did I mention that I also have to clean this everyday?...

Adjusting was very difficult for my little boys.  Beckham refused to talk to his Daddy on the phone the first month and tried to avoid talking about it.  When I did mention it, I could see his eyes get teary.  He acted out constantly, and his behavior was a huge challenge for me.  Everett began throwing triple the amount of tantrums, and hitting and throwing things became his release.  It took a couple of months of this, but my sweet boys did return.  Well... I wish they were sweet all the time, but you know, that's not the case. 

Before Joshua left, I counted down the hours everyday until he came home from work and I lived for the weekends when we could spend all day together.  Now my days are all the same and the only thing I have to look forward to is the tiny bit of time I get alone in the shower at the end of the night.  It sounds depressing but it really isn't.  My days are taxing but they are filled with love and laughter.  Like I said, there is never a dull moment! 

 

Speaking of laughter, here are some funny things the boys (pretty much Beckham) have been saying:

1.)  Beckham said "I'm going to marry Marigny tomorrow... if she grows up."  He tells me this often.

2.)  Beckham was putting on his shoe and his toe got stuck, and he couldn't get it on so he said "Is this shoe for real?!"

3.)  Beckham got a popcorn kernel stuck in his teeth so he started spitting.  When I asked him not to, he said "But I got one of those things you feed chickens."

4.)  Everett said "I poot and I excuse me.  Now can I get a M&M?"

5.)  I told Beckham that he needed to pee pee on cherios and sink them to show brother how to do it so that he could learn how to use the potty, and Becks said "No, mom... the cherios won't sink.  The pee pee will just go through the hole."

6.)  I told Beckham to get his shoe of the couch and to stop kicking me with it or I would take them off and he didn't so I took them off.  Then he tells me after he cries, "Mom, here is your chance.  You can put my shoes back on me and go sit on the other couch.  Now say yes."  I tell him I don't think so and that I'm the only one who gives chances, not children.  So he tells me, "Like, I just need a new mommy."  So I tell him that I will call someone to get him a new mommy and if he puts his shoes back on, he will have to go to time out.  He then tells me, "We just had a talk and you're still being naughty.  I'm just trying to turn you into a good lady."

7.)  Beckham says that on Fridays you can eat fries because it sounds like "french fry".

8.)  Everett was watching me change Marigny and he said, "Eww that's yucky!  Don't eat it, Mommy.  That's green poo poo."

9.)  Beckham was sitting in time out and he said "Look at these bad decisions y'all made.  Evie hit me and YOU put me in time out.  Look what y'all did."  (I actually saw him hit Everett first.)

10.)  Beckham told Everett that he was bring disrespectful when Everett knocked his toys down.

11.)  Beckham was whining because I made him use the bathroom by himself (nothing new!) and while crying in the bathroom, he said "Why do you make me do these things?  I need to teach you how to be a mommy."

12.)  Beckham says it is very hard to not jump on the couch because the couch is "very puffy and comfortable".

13.)  I told Beckham that his food needed to cool off before he could eat it and he said, "Well why don't you let me blow on it?  Don't you know  I have a lot of air in my body?  Yeah, I never run out."

14.)  Beckham was playing with Marigny and then turned to tell me, "Mom, please call the police and tell them not to take this baby to jail because she is so cute!"

15.)  Beckham told me that when Marigny gets my age he is going to marry her, and when I told him that maybe he should meet a new girl to marry, he said "Okaaaaay...two girls."

16.)  Beckham put on a pair of goggles and said "I think this is what I should wear outside so bugs don't get in my eyes."

17.)  A conversation between Beckham and his Aunt Tori...
Tori: how'd you get so cute?
Becks: mommy made me cute
Tori: what about daddy?
Becks: no!! Not daddy! Boys don't have a uterus!

18.)  Shame on you!  Ahhhh!!!  If I hear that out of their mouths one more time, I swear I will sew their mouths shut!!  I said it to Beckham one time and now they say it to EVERYONE, ALL OF THE TIME.  I have tried everything to get them to stop saying this and they find it hilarious.

19.)  And now, a conversation between Beckham and Everett:
Becks:  My balloon popped soooooo loud.
Evie:  No, my balloon popped soooooo loud!
Becks:  My balloon went to heaven.
Evie:  No, your balloon is so "purpdull" (purple).
Becks:  No, blue.
Evie:  No, your balloon was soooo "purpdull".
Becks:  Blue.

My sweet Marigny is a totally different baby from when Joshua last saw her.  She turned three months old on the very last day he saw her, and now she is 6 1/2 months old.  She has more than doubled her age since then!  She began rolling over a couple of weeks after he left, sitting up at five months, eating solids at six months (she now eats sweet potatoes and peas), and she even began signing just a week before she turned six months old.  She now signs "milk", "eat" and "all done".  Videos below!  And my growing girl also got her first tooth last week! 

 

Marigny also got her ears pierced!  Donna, Ariana and the boys came with me to do it just before she turned six months old.  It was painful for me.  You can see it in my face on the video, but I won't post that.  We took a video for Joshua to see.  I felt so bad for my baby girl, but now it is said and done, and she looks fabulous. 

 

Marigny just started saying "dada" the day before last. It's the first real consistent sound that she makes. When she gets upset, she sticks her tongue out and blows, and says "ah da da... ah da da..". When Everett was her age, he used to say "ma ma ma ma" when he was upset. 

Marigny is my only baby to play with her feet! I always wanted one of these...lol.

 

I carried all three of my babies in this same sling so now it's time for Marigny's pictures in it!

Joshua is away probably during the worst time of the year... the holidays!  Booo!!  Here are some pics from Halloween:

One of the many great things about being back home is being near family.  The boys are finally getting to know their cousins and it is so awesome watching them all play together.  Here are some pics of the kids with family!

Speaking of family, my dad and stepmom, Robin, took the boys to their very first trip to the circus along with their cousins!

My boys are obsessed with being superheroes!  Beckham calls himself "Superman" and Everett calls himself "Superboy".  

"Professional" pictures I took of the kids!  The last pic was our Christmas card pic this year. 

Bath time pics!

 

 

Momma pics!  I normally don't take pictures of myself, but I've been taking some here and there to send to Joshua.

 



 

 

And so, I will end this with a sweet picture I made of the kiddos' handprints for Joshie, and I will return soon this time with everything CHRISTMAS!