Addison is 4 Months Old!

We've been having so much fun with Grammy here from Indiana that I am a little late on this, but Addie is 4 Months old! Peanut weighs in at 13lbs, 24in.  She can roll from stomach to back, she's lost all her hair, and she loves to blow spit bubbles.




Duck Face Level: Expert

Addie has found out that she can blow bubbles. In the process we found out that her Duck Face Level is Expert:




Indiana Came to Town

So since I was last in, we were battling fires.... since then things have settled yet stirred up. Shannon's mom was in town from Indiana and we had a great 10 days with her. We spent a lot of our time at the beach and just relaxing. Shannon was on-cycle so his days were quite busy, but the kids and I enjoyed the time with family and were sad to see her go. We did get a few kid free nights in and we spent those going to dinner with his mom and brother. 


We enjoyed great food and music at Coyote Bar and Grill in Carlsbad, and we had to frequent Shannon's favorite, Benihana. I forgot how nice it is to enjoy a dinner without screaming kids throwing vegetables in your face... This was a much needed mini vacay for mommy! 









Fire!


Oh my goodness, this past week has been CRAZY! We've been battling wildfires in the area for days and we were even voluntary evacuated. Not having rain here in California is great, but when it gets dry and hot, it gets dangerous when we haven't had a single drop all year. That, coupled with the Santa Ana winds is just disastrous. Half of Camp Pendleton has been ablaze a week and Shannon had to evacuate his 300 Marines from their barracks. WE ARE ALL FINE, and the firefighters are starting to contain the fires to areas that don't threaten any more homes, but the smoke, ash, and chaos of it all is giving me headache. The picture on the right is of the fire behind the fence of neighborhood. Compared to others around base and throughout San Diego's North County, we got it easy. Regardless, we need a vacation, anyone else with me? I'm thinking somewhere tropical. 



Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, single dads, grandmothers, and all those who mother! Mine was fulfilled with the love, joy, and laughter. Thank you to my amazing children and husband who give me purpose in life. 

Photo: Couldn't have a Happy Mother's Day without help from the best father I know. Thanks Shannon for knowing what's wrong when I say nothing is wrong, for wrestling with the kids while I burn dinner, and for waiting with a lump in your throat while I run to Target for "a few things," but come home with more stuff we didn't know we needed. You're the best! #ShantineForever❤️ 

Thank you, Sylvie Cockrell and Patricia McNamara Ashleyfor raising the amazing father of my children. Most importantly, thank you Kim Chi Pham for loving me into the mother and wife I am today. I may not be as good as you are, but I sure am trying. (Insert tears here).











Military Spouse Appreciation Day



Cheers to all my fellow military spouses out there! Loving a service member is not easy, and today America salutes you. Trying to keep our sanity while, maintaing the home front is a tough battle and without you America would not be what it is. The support you give your service member and the sacrifices you make is a lifeblood to the morale of those on the front lines. Your constant sacrifices do not go unnoticed and America appreciates you. Heaven knows we don't do it for the glory, because this is not a glorious life at all. The pay leaves a lot to be desired, the ever-changing "schedules" will test your flexibility and patience to the boiling point, and the misunderstandings of living this military life will never fully be comprehended to outsiders, but somehow we manage to find the good in it all. We live for the moment he steps off the bus, and the loneliness of the nights before that day all seem to fade as soon as he does. Teaching our children that Daddy is a part of something so important that he can't be home for months at a time is one of the hardest things we will endure, but the pride we feel when they finally get it, is so joyous. Here's to you fellow Milspo, I couldn't do this without you and you mean the world to me. God holds a special place in heaven for us, I imagine it to have unlimited pedicures, mimosas, and no blue service star flags. Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day! 

Addie's Sunday's Best

Just had to share how adorable Addie is in her new dress that Nana Pat sent from Chicago. I believe the dress is from Target and it comes with the headband. She's wearing a size 3mo and it fits perfect, but she is a little on the small side, so I would say this dress runs small. I went to Target the other day and didn't see this exact one, but there are similar ones and they're flying off the shelves, so go get yours soon!

 




Humbling Tantrums

Nothing like feeling confident after both kids wake up from a nap to go to the grocery store, only to get inside and have your 1y/o pitch a fit and throw his shoe at a stranger...All while the 3 month old is screaming and vomits the whole contents of her last bottle down your shirt. So you reach for a burp rag that is not there and end up cleaning yourself and the infant with a spare diaper. Then when you think the calm has come, the 1 y/o starts another tantrum over a cup of cookies he's never even had before. So you give him the cookies hoping they'll let you make it to the dairy aisle. After that you beeline to the register, the cashier rings and loads you up all to find out you left your wallet in the car....to humble you. 

Once I laid him in bed tonight and checked on him a few minutes later he was out! I guess the sugar rush and energy exhausted during the tantrum got to him. But looking at him sleep peacefully, I could not be more proud and in love with my little hellion. I complain about these terrible twos a lot, and he's not even two yet. I've got a long way to go until the tantrums subside, so until then pray for me. LOL!