Falling for Rhode Island

The Navy has shipped us off to Rhode Island for a half a year from July to February. It came by no surprise that we were coming here as this school is mandatory for N's position, yet it has still been difficult for me to wrap my head around coming and moving away in such a short time period.  My little taste of the area six years ago while pregnant with baby M was all I needed to know that Newport was a place with so much to see and do while the weather is temperate. So far we have enjoyed seeing so much already. I am trying to keep us out and about while we have the opportunity with this beautiful weather.

We found a gem of a beach with clear and very calm water for the little ones. The beach is at a marina so it never feels isolated, yet the three times we have visited so far it has never had more than a family or two on the beach giving us plenty of room to explore and to create.

 The girls have started to enjoy climbing on the rocks. The sky was so blue!

 Lil toes on tiny pebbles. Depending on the tide, the sand by the waves is either soft and tan or contains tiny multicolored pebbles. I was pleased and surprised how all the kids enjoyed the texture of the pebbles without voicing any complaints. 

Here We Come

     Today this box with blue lettering came in the mail. While opening it up, a flood of emotions rolled over me like the waves we are surrounded by here in Rhode Island. This cardboard box of books represents the beginning of a journey into uncharted waters for my once "itty bitty" baby M and her Mama. This year I have the privilege of becoming a home schooling mother. My 5 pound 6 ounce baby girl has blossomed into a sweet "school-aged" young girl. I am curious, anxious, eager, sentimental and excited to be starting this journey with her. Will this work for her, for me, and for all of our family? Will she thrive? Will I thrive? How will this change our relationship? How will I balance M's schooling with little miss spunky and bouncing baby boy in our classroom? How many curriculum changes will we have ahead of us before we find the one for that works for her, for me, and for everyone in this family at this time and place? The words printed on the box were exactly the reminder I needed to shift my focus on to the primary reason we have chosen this path for our M. Among the myriad of reasons we have decided on home schooling for our family at this time, this is the reason.  A few home schooling mothers recently shared with me points that I am stashing away in my head for keeps. Home schooling might be a perfect fit for one child and not a perfect fit for the next sibling. One curriculum might be great for one child and not the next because of personality, learning style, or birth order differences. Buying a curriculum does not guarantee it will be a good fit. Buying and trying and maybe not liking certain curriculum is just a natural part of this home schooling process. It is okay if we learn home schooling is not for us. It is okay if curriculum modifications come along. It is okay if we need to slow down or speed up. Uncharted waters here we come!

This Thanksgiving

 We praise the LORD for the arrival of our little one.

 This was N's first time cutting the cord.

 He was 13 oz bigger than E and measured in at 19.5 inches long.

 He looked so clean even before he was bathed.

Getting ready for his first bath

 He was born on the eve of his due date after four hours of natural labor.

 I went from 5cm to baby within two hours at the hospital. 

Our baby boy has his father's first name and one of his uncle's middle.

He was by far a prettier newborn than his sisters ;)

 Getting ready to meet baby brother.

 So excited

 Three kids! When did this happen?!

 Very full hands

 Our sweet M

 

Our spunky L

 

 I'm having a blast dressing our little boy

 Waiting to be cleared for discharge

 

 His new carseat that our generous CA church family gifted us (as sisters' did not fit 3 in a row)

 All ready to go home!

*detailed birth story to follow one of these days between the sleepless nights and days of cuddling. This was my first one hundred percent natural birth. It was a most wonderful and most humbling experience. Although my last birth was also without an epidural this experience brought au naturel to a whole new meaning for me. While I was relating the labor story to a friend, the humbling of King Nebuchadnezzar was brought to mind ;)

Anchors Away! A Decade's Journey

     Ten years ago this August we started our Navy journey. Nathan entered into the ROTC program to help cover his tuition to an ivy and provide a job opportunity once he graduated. I was by his side back then at the age of sixteen and a sophomore in high school. 
 2002

2003 ~ For his college years, to me the Navy meant going to balls, hearing him talk of getting up way too early to do physical training, and being apart for several weeks during the summer while he was away training.  I wish these old photos of precious memories were of much better quality.

2004

2005

2006 ~ We got engaged and married.

2007 ~ We both graduated from college. He was commissioned, stationed in VA, and deployed for six months to the Middle East away from his newlywed wife. I greatly enjoyed the privilege of pinning him for the first time along side his grandfather during the ceremony.

2008 ~ This was taken moments before I was reunited with my husband. Looking at this photograph, the chained fence is very symbolic of those six months without him. Even though I was living back home with my amazingly supportive family, surrounding myself with childhood friends, and enjoying the most wonderful job with dear children, the tears flowed and flowed over those months. Living without my best friend of six years and husband of seven months took my breath away at times.

A few months later I was pinning his SWO pin on with a baby on board

I remember I was feeling so sick but knew I would not miss this!

2009

Pinning on his Lieutenant Junior Grade insignia for his promotion.

We traveled to Mississippi for four weeks while he under went training for his new position.

2010- He was in NYC for fleet week and toured ground zero.

2011 ~ Pinning for his promotion to Lieutenant

Our last family photo at our VA home

Our first family photo at our CA rental

2012 ~ We were visiting with friends and family in NJ. This 'uniform' below is most fitting to symbolize his current position in 2012 as he looks like this four days a week at the Naval Postgraduate School and wears his above uniform once a week on Tuesdays.

     Years ago, I remember having a conversation with a childhood friend who was to become a military wife. She asked how I took the ultimate pressure of my husband's profession. My answer then is the same as it is now. God does not lightly choose when he calls His child home to Him, and in that I rest even though the tears still come flowing now. Sometimes I feel that I am a military wife with a quickest recall on the emotions of being a military wife and the drops of saline on my cheeks. My husband is no coward, yet I am such a teary fragile wife at times.

     A few weeks back, a Navy award came in the mail for my husband. As I am the paper filer of the household, he was handing it over to me to put in one of his many Navy boxes and binders. Before he gave it to me, I looked at it over his shoulder as he examined it to make sure that all the correct boxes were checked and all the ts were crossed. And there it was... the phrase... "posthumous heroic" an inch away from his checked box of "meritorious." And the tears came flowing down as I walked away. My husband has not as much as had his little toe stubbed in his five years of reserve service and his five years of active duty service, yet I am a Navy wife who is not the bravest of them all. One inch of space and it meant so much. It meant that he was here with me and his three children living and breathing while another was not with his beloved wife and children.  That I will never forget.