By the way…

I’m sooooo totally back-blogged it’s ridiculous! It’s all I think about and yet I just can’t seem to get to it. Maybe tonight?

The New Aidan

Ok, so the new Aidan isn’t much different from the old one but there are a few new little sayings and ATTITUDE that must be documented. Let me just start with this:

Guess who learned to use my iphone camera? I love it! I love finding random pictures that he takes. Such a little stud! I’m thinkin’ he will either be a musician or a photographer because he is always wanting to take pictures. Why a musician? Well, Aidan has always had really great rhythm. My in-laws neighbor bought him a little toy drum when he was a year old because of a drumming encounter they had one night, haha! Aidan ALWAYS hums while he eats. There is never complete silence at our dinner table, not only because of our 3 rowdy kids but also because Aidan will surely be humming a tune while enjoying his food:) Also, lately he is quite the song writer constantly making up songs with the words stinky, poopy, Maya, Arabella…he mostly does it to drive them crazy but his mind always seems to be preoccupied with music in one way or another.

His favorite thing to do when he decides he really likes somebody is to attach a number to how much he likes them. I thought I was the most awesome, special mom in the world the other day when he told me, “Mom, you are my best girl ever! I love you 20!” I really felt like, wow, he loves me 20! That is a big number to him so he must really, really love me! Then he said the same thing about his cousin…….anyway, he will always give a number for how much he likes someone. Where he got the idea? I don’t know but I like it.

He always tells daddy and I that he likes us and loves us. He’s actually been doing this for a while and now both Arabella and Maya do it too. They get upset if we don’t respond to both of these expressions of affection so you can imagine how old it gets telling each kid, “I like you too! I love you too!” Silly kids!

Oh what a sad few days it has been. Aidan has started talking back to me:( So. Not. Fun. It seems like just 3 short weeks ago he was so sweet and respectful and obedient and now suddenly he will tell me, “I am not going to do that!” What happened?!?! I really feel like this is just due to our homeless dysfunction right now, and his behavior will get back to normal once we have more of a routine and stability. We shall see.

Last but not least, he is so full of questions! Constant, random, obvious, unanswerable questions. My mother-in-law has saved my brain and nerves by telling me to do the obvious. Ask him to answer his own question by saying, “What do you think?” or “Why do you think?” Ummm, hello! Duh! Why didn’t I think of that! Sometimes this mom brain is just too much for me.

I LOVE BEING A MOM! As hard as it can be and for all the ups and downs, there is always a reward that surpasses any hardships that come along with the calling of being a mother. They are my daily motivation to be a better, more Christ-like person. There is no other responsibility more precious than my 3 little loves.

4 days in…

I can hardly believe we are JUST 4 days in. I was trying to figure out why it feels like it’s been so much longer and I know why. Because it HAS been! I’m sort of feeling like an emotional mess right now. We left our Florida home, drove 2 days to get here and since that moment Rich has been unavailable. He studied like mad for the NAPLEX (which he passed!!!!!!) for 2 weeks, took the test on Saturday and left the very next day. Now, he’s been gone for 4 days but really he’s been gone for almost 3 weeks. I miss him.

The kids? The reality is that the kids are not behaving the way they normally do. Aidan prays every night that he can go to school tomorrow. He asked me the other day if he was ever going to see his Florida friends again. They miss daddy. They missed daddy when daddy was still here! They are acting out and that is making it hard on me.

Me? I’m pretty much feeling all dysfunctional. I feel like I haven’t really talked to Rich in a long time. His roommate is pretty obnoxious and tries to tell him when he can and can’t talk to me. When he does call me our conversations are a little awkward because his roommate doesn’t give him any privacy and even has the nerve to chime in when Rich is telling me about COT. So much is always left unsaid. Routine is hard to accomplish when every few days we pack up and go to visit the other grandparent.

Ok, that was me putting it all out there and telling it how it is. How whiney and ungrateful I must sound. I’m not. I recognize and am super grateful for our blessings. We’ve been able to spend a lot of time with cousins and get to know them better. We have definitely been making up for lost time. All 3 of my kids have fallen in love with their cousin Kayla. She spent a few days with them and they actually cried when she went home. So cute! Aidan has decided that Ethan is his favorite. All 3 of my kids are OBSESSED with the newest Baker grandbaby. My niece, Daisy, is now 2 weeks old and my kids want her to be theirs. Aidan told Julie (Daisy’s mommy) that Daisy is his baby! If baby is near, they are hovering around to get a chance to hold her.

So, all in all we are enjoying our time here with family. I had to complain a bit because it has been part of the experience. Gotta keep it real:) Family has been great, we will be so excited when Rich comes back and we can be together again without any tests looming over us. Until that day, which is faaaaaar off in the distance, I will suck it up and make the best of our homelessness. After all, it’s not as bad as I make it sound when I’m having a bad day;)

He’s Gone:(

Rich left for Officer Training yesterday and I miss him already. I’m determined to keep myself busy during these next 5 weeks to keep me from missing him too much. Maybe I will finally regain control of my blog and get caught up! I’m excited to work on some sewing projects with my Sis-in-law, Julie, make baby headbands, more bowties for Aidan (I LOVE seeing him in a bowtie!) and just have fun with the kids!

It was so hard to say goodbye. I bawled, of course, which made Maya bawl. She’s so sweet and sensitive. Right before he left I took some pictures of him with each kid. My plan is to print one off for each of them and have it laminated so that whenever they miss him they can just look at their picture. Hopefully that will help because I know they are going to have a hard time.

They got to talk to him before he reported.

I’m gonna miss him so much but I’m so grateful that I have such an awesome family and in-laws to support me while he’s gone.

Where Are We Now?

With so much going on the past couple of months I haven’t had a single moment, that I wasn’t too exhausted, to sit down and blog. This makes me sad:( I so love to document all of the craziness in our lives and it has been hard not being able to keep up. I will eventually find the time to blog about the MANA CONCERT we went to with Lucy and Joe. The CRUISE we went on with Rich’s parents, my mom and brother. Our LAST VISIT TO THE BEACH before we left Florida and the end of our Florida adventure.

*sigh*

Where are we now? We are at Rich’s parents house in Missouri. Thankfully, we have been so busy having fun that we haven’t really had too much time to be sad about leaving our Florida home. So, for now, that is what I’m going to focus on. The day after we got here, we drove out to Branson for my nephews baptism. Julian was so happy, it was such a blessing to be there for that special day in his life.

(all 10 of my mom’s grandkids)

(My sweet Julian with his grandpa, who baptized him, and his grandma)

We’ve been out in the sticks of Marshfield ever since and the kids have had so much fun! Maya loves nature. She has been mimicking the birds she hears.  Chasing bunnies, frogs and turtles. Admiring all of grandma’s pretty flowers and enjoying every “beautiful day”, that’s in her own words.

Have you ever seen “Puss In Boots”? Those eyes!!!!!

The kids have been having such a good time spending most of every day outside eating and playing.

I know he needs a haircut, but he has decided that he wants to grow his hair out longer. He specifically told me that I couldn’t cut his hair anymore. We’ll see how much longer I can stand it.

Somewhere in the middle of all of this we celebrated Father’s Day. Sadly, I was a lame wife on Father’s Day. I swear I feel like I haven’t even really had a chance to breathe! I think the awesome gift I ordered for Rich made up for it though:D Anyway, we celebrated with the whole fam.

(Beth’s fruit baby)

Much fun was had by all…

Happy Father’s Day, fathers!

All of the Baker kids with dad.

We are finally settling in and I’m starting to feel like I’m sort of developing a new daily routine. So much more to add but for now I will end with one of my favorite pictures;)

Thanks for the wink, Maya!

Dr. Baker Is In The House!!!!

Yes world, my husband IS a doctor.

Before I jump into graduation let me just post a few pics of us looking all fancy for the Pharmacy Banquet. It was so fun getting all dressed up and going out for a nice dinner.

Rich’s mom took some pictures of us before we left for a good time.

Showing off my haircut which I hated but now I actually really like it!

Ok, so now I shall move on to graduation. I can hardly believe that it has come and gone. What we started 6 years ago has finally been accomplished and I am one proud wife.

You know how on The Office, Angela always refers to her husband as “the senator”? Yeah, I’m totally gonna refer to Rich as “the doctor”, hahaha!

We are down to our last few days out here in Florida. We will soon be off on our next adventure with a short layover in Missouri. While it has been so hard to come to terms with the fact that we will soon be leaving Florida, I’m starting to get really excited about Utah. What does the future hold? I can’t wait to find out!

Nana Jackie

Why am I SOOO behind with my blogging? I will tell you why. Because of FAMILY and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Wow, let me tell you , it has been a busy, crazy fun week! Where to start, where to start…

On May 25, which was a Friday, we were joined by 3 really awesome people, Rich’s parents and Grandma! I love them so much! We took a little drive down to Miami to take them to see Coral Castle.

Wow, look! I’m actually in a family picture!

A picture with Nana Jackie:)

I think Rich’s parents and Jackie were more excited about their hotel than us! They raved about the breakfast and the pool so naturally we had to spend some time out there swimming.

 

Attempting the impossible, getting a pic of all 3 kids under the waterfall.

The kids loved Nana Jackie! She cracked them up and was so playful with them. They shared a special moment when Nana carried on Granddad’s tradition of giving the kids gold dollar coins.

With family in town we HAD to take them to eat our favorite tacos! Alegria Tacos got so many visits from us during that week and everybody loved it! We love our friends at Alegria.

Yum!

  

We so enjoyed our visit from Nana Jackie! She is a special lady. She is so full of energy and spunk. I’m really excited to live closer to her so that we can visit her and continue to build our family relationship.