South Carolina Baby Shower

Last weekend, the 11th, Ryan and I made our way to South Carolina as his family were throwing our Bean a baby shower. We left Friday afternoon and made our way south, arriving in time for a lovely BBQ dinner with his mom, sister, and grandmother. Saturday afternoon was our shower and man did our little guy get spoiled! His mom's neighbor Christi hosted the shower for us and the guests included lots of family and friends from the neighborhood.

As you can see there were lots of tiny outfits gifted that I could not contain my excitement about. So. Tiny.

It seemed like everyone had a great time and we really enjoyed getting to see family and friends that we don't get to visit with as often as we like!

Plus they made me a fun hat with all the ribbons! Bean got first wear in the belly though.

The rest of Saturday we lazed around, eating leftovers and just spending time together. I get tired pretty easily these days so lying on the couch and going to bed early is fine in my book!

Sunday we took some pictures together before packing up the jeep on the hottest day of the year thus far, easily over 100 degrees and horribly humid. I did not envy my husband wrangling the crib into the car and was not disappointed when he turned down my offer to help!

We channeled our inner Zoolander a bit too.

Our Bean is definitely one lucky baby and he isn't even here yet! So much love. The next time we see our South Carolina family will probably be when the baby is born, so only a few more weeks!

Unfortunately we did encounter some car trouble on the way home. We were driving in the middle of nowhere South Carolina when suddenly our Jeep turned off while we were going 55 on the highway! Luckily we were able to stop ok, but remember me mentioning it was the hottest day of the year thus far? 100 degrees plus, middle of nowhere, fields, closed store, closed church, and a random hospital unit that I had to walk to at least once to use the bathroom. I was afraid to drink too much as it was a hike and we were waiting on the tow truck. After nearly two hours we somehow got the Jeep started again and just went on our way, calling AAA to cancel the tow (another ordeal in itself!). Our 4.5 hour drive ended up taking nearly 7 hours and man was I glad to get home. I was a sweaty, uncomfortable mess for sure! The joys of pregnancy!

Christmas 2014

This Christmas Ryan and I decided to stay home and celebrate with just the two of us. We were expecting him originally to work through the holiday and when we found out he was off we decided to not stress with travel and stick with our original plan of staying home. As much as I missed seeing my family, it was nice to have this memory together. I worked Christmas Eve and then met Ryan at church on base for mass. It was beautiful in the church but outside it was pouring rain all day. At least it was warm, a balmy mid 70s for Christmas... very unusual for this Jersey girl!

 

After mass we went home and had a nice dinner (care of Honeybaked Ham Co to be honest!) that we just had to heat and put out. It was delicious and the Dup was begging at our sides for most of it.

After we ate we watched some TV together and I learned my husband had never seen It's A Wonderful Life. It was naturally on TV so I made him watch even though we missed part of the beginning. That is a classic that must be watched! We then exchanged one present for that night.... mainly because Ryan got me some cozy pajamas he wanted me to wear that night and for Christmas morning. I gave him the tablet he knew he was getting since he picked it out! He spent the rest of the evening adding his coursework to it and being geekily excited about the entire thing.

 

 

Christmas morning we had some left over ham and biscuits and exchanged presents. First we spoiled the Dup who was very excited (if not a little confused) about getting treats and presents. Her giant bone became her prized possession and she carried it around for three days before she realized she could eat it... then it vanished! Her stocking was full of stuff for her to destroy and only one toy survived the Christmas shredding, but she was occupied all day with them at least.

All of that kind of wore her out (overly stimulated much?) and she napped the rest of the day in a sun beam!

 

 

Ryan and I did the presents thing, he enjoyed his super large coffee pot and 24 hour vacuum sealed thermos I got him (as well as socks and exotic jerkey plus his stocking) and I cannot wait for my spa day he customized for me! I also got more pretty pajamas and a stocking with plenty of chocolate in it.

 

We spent most of the day watching A Christmas Story but then watched A Muppet Christmas Carol and White Christmas to break it up. Then my friend Donna came over, we ordered Chinese food and we opened a bottle of champagne to watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special. So it was a different Christmas for sure, but still very very enjoyable. I hope you and yours had a fantastic holiday and have a Happy New Year!

 

 

How the Birthday Went

Nothing like a birthday to brighten your spirits! I've hit the point in this deployment where I'm pretty stressed and emotional and it was nice to get some extra love. My Facebook blew up, phone calls and texts came in from friends and family, and the best husband ever FaceTimed me from the desert. 

I did have work but my coworkers were terrific both Sunday and today. My one coworker gave me a huge Hershey bar and my other gave me a card catalogue box with peanut butter m&ms and soaps from the farmers market. Awesome!

My husband emailed me an amazingly sweet poem and pictures of the present he got for me and plans to give me when he gets home...

Gorgeous! When we were dating and he was in Iraq he got me two painted wooden jewelry boxes and I love that he kept that trend. He also one upped himself...

He shaved his mustache!!!! Now that's love ;)

My parents sent me a box of goodies... A bone for the Dup, pop tarts and a carrier for them as they are my breakfast of choice as well as moonshine peaches, a charm necklace and other odds and ends. 

Plus I woke up to this cute picture from Dippy!

After work I met some of my friends to watch the Giants game. I was a tad peeved they lost (6 TOs. Seriously!?) but it was a great day. 

Thank you all for the birthday wishes, on my last entry, on Facebook and every other way. Here's to hoping this is a great year!

 

Third Anniversary

Today is our third wedding anniversary!! It is also the first one we've spent apart (which is fine, 1 out of 3 is not bad!) since Ryan is in the field. Because we're impatient we decided to exchange gifts before he left. We went out for sushi and dressed semi nice and exchanged gifts and had some wine. Perfect. 

We do traditional anniversary gifts and for the third year the theme is leather. I got Ryan a nice leather samsonite briefcase that I saved up for and he got me my first coach purse. I giggled (if you are a fan of the OSMW Facebook page you know why) but I think the purse is adorable and I've already used it! It was very sweet of him to know me well enough to get the size and color I love in a daily use bag and considering its my first new purse in about seven years I think it's pretty awesome! 

He was also super stoked for the briefcase (which I know he wanted since he is so subtle!). I paid for amazon to gift wrap the present which meant they threw it in a large blue drawstring bag so I don't think I'll pay extra for wrapping if I'm getting something bigger than a breadbox!

Happy Anniversary my love. I hope for many happy returns of the day and that we can celebrate many more together. I love you. 

And now some photos (including some with a genuine Ryan smile that I tease him for never using in any posed pictures). 

 

 

 

 
 

Christmas 2012

Every year Ryan and I rotate holidays with our families, we do one family for Thanksgiving and the other for Christmas. As we spent Thanksgiving in South Carolina we went out to western North Carolina to visit my family for Christmas. For the first time we hit some traffic on I-40 driving west but it was rush hour near Raleigh and Durham so we should have known better! Even this rush hour was nothing compared to traffic in DC so we didn't mind too much.

When we got up to the mountains on Friday night it was cold! We left the coast and it was in the 60s, by that night it got down to 19 degrees and there was some leftover snow dusting the ground. Brrrrrrr. We unpacked our huge bag of presents and suitcases and settled down for a nice dinner with my family.

The next few days were relaxing and exciting as we waited for Christmas to hit. Ryan went running with my brother Stefan almost every day trying to build up his endurance with the altitude and Mom and I kept going into town for last minute Christmas surprises and stocking stuffers!

Lake Junaluska looked gorgeous with wreaths and candles. It was actually warmer this day, but still cold.

 In downtown Waynesville! Gateway to the Smokies.

 We had dinner at JRs one night and they had a gorgeous 40 foot tall Christmas tree.

 We also had some wonderful rainbows during the weekend. This is the view from my parents' deck.

 Driving back up the mountain later we saw this at the bottom.

We had some nice relaxing down time too. Ryan and the Dup had some fun....

 And Stefan stole my phone and took about thirty pictures...

 Rylie of course went running in the backyard and swimming in the stream regardless of the cold. The first time she jumped in was hysterical because she was not expecting the cold! But she gave up that worry quick enough and was digging up rocks and sticks to play fetch with us.

And then it was finally Christmas! Be ready for more of a massive photo bomb... sorry!

 Dad and Ramon staking their spots for the snacks!

 Chips, hummus, dip, crackers, olives, peppers and smoked trout with sour creme onions and capers! YUM

 Fettucini galore! There were six of us and we still had left overs. Crazy.

 Its an Italian tradition to burn a noodle in rememberance of those family members no longer with us.

 Our Christmas Even dinner set up. My mom wanted to start a new tradition and got us British crackers.

 The pups! Rylie was such an instigator and kept bugging Dippy.

 We all wore our paper crowns for the meal. We also got jokes, shoe horns, zipper pulls and large paper clips!

 My mom got a lobster bake on groupon for all the adults! YUM. Lobster tail, corn, scallops, shrimp, mussels and crab claws. The boys wouldn't touch it so they had calzones. Italian and Polish tradition calls for a meatless Christmas Eve so with the bake and the pasta with my dad's mushroom sauce we had a darn good meatless dinner!

 We wore our finest for Christmas Eve mass. Sad this was blurry but Ryan does not have the patience for multiple pictures on a camera.

 The love of my life... he looks so dashing in his suit!

 Siblings! I cannot believe he is taller than me. Sigh.

 Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

 The Dup in her Christmas Collar.

 Family picture!

 Christmas morning means watching A Christmas Story over and over again.

 Look at all those presents!

 And stockings are a big thing in our family!

 My mom knows me too well, this was my wrapping paper this year.

I got an Eli Manning jersey, Uggs, a gorgeous signed Biltmore drawing (with our wedding date, names and song), a Kate Spade giraffe bag and a gorgeous crystal giraffe. I love giraffes!!!!

 Ryan said he purposely wrapped this ugly. 550 cord included. Oh boy....

 Mom got a shotgun... you put a Jersey girl in the South and she sure does acclimate!

 Daddy opening Rylie's stocking with her.

 Post breakfast casserole coma with presents. Ryan got a fishing pole too.

 The Dup couldn't handle the excitement and passed out.

 Our yummy dinner.... beef wellington with mushrooms or horseradish, caeser salad, and stuffed baked potatoes. Oh yum.

 We wore the crowns again.

 Dessert was a ton of cookies and summer berry trifle.

Rylie loves to cuddle with Uncle Stefan.

Aaaaand that's it! We left early the day after Christmas and unpacked everything. Now we have to undecorate. I do love this time of year, it is a bit of a let down when it is over! I hope you had a Happy Holidays and enjoyed time with family and friends.