new house, for now

In the last post I imagined I'd write again once we knew where we were moving. That didn't happen. We are moved.
John received his wings on September 13, and we were completely unpacked in the new house by October 12. In between there we packed up our Florida house, moved ourselves 29 hours, found a house to live in, and unloaded the moving truck. Our plan had always been to have the military move us this time around (we have way too much stuff). But that didn't work out and we had another successful do-it-yourself move (minus a break-in ... our moving truck had some visitors one night who needed a microwave, toaster oven, air mattress, drill, motorcycle helmet, and dog bowls).
We are almost entirely settled at the new place now. We have a few more frames to hang, but we can happily call it home (for now). "It" is Camp Pendleton (located in Oceanside, California). The base is huge (even has horse stables!) and the weather is gorgeous (we had our first beach visit this weekend).
Our house is exactly what we needed. We prayed for a house on base with a fenced in yard and that is exactly what we were blessed with. It was the only available house on base when we came looking and it has everything we were looking for (a big yard for Belleau, a two-car garage, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, "wood" floors).
What I love about it: everything listed above + the three huge sliding doors to the backyard, the playground out back, the closet space, the neighbors (three different sets stopped by the weekend we moved in, and two of those three brought cookies!), the gas stove/oven, the water pressure.

livingroom/kitchen/dining room/extra space

Mankato's room

our bathroom/bedroom + John and Bells

backyard aka Bellea's domain

messy office/soon-to-be guest room

Sadly, we will only be in this house for six(-ish) months. John is learning to fly the Huey here (one more school...) and then we will be (happily) stationed in North Carolina. Hopefully I will update before we are out of this house and into another. I can truthfully blame my lack of updates on my very busy 10 month old. He's a blast. A busy blast.

In the midst of getting settled, we went "home" to the midwest for 10 days to celebrate my baby brother getting married. As always, it was great being home. And even better to welcome Jamie to the Vandament clan!

Where has the time gone?

Thanks to a friendly reminder from my dear friend Stephanie, I am updating the personal blog!

If you have been wondering what we've been up to ....

up at night with a teething baby boy (finally have one tooth!!)
vacuuming all the time because I have a CRAWLER! 
finding stuffing from Belleau's toy in Mankato's mouth
discovering Mankato can eject games from the wii
realizing I desperately need to baby proof (no inch is safe)
rethinking where to put the camera for the monitor that Mankato now throws on the floor
helping John memorize entirely too much material for any human brain
walking Belleau every day to help her lose weight (6 lbs to go)
running to prepare for my 10k that's quickly approaching
driving to Birmingham to move Tori into her new apartment
washing sheets/towels after/before our visitors (we have LOVED all of our company!!!)
praying for John as he finishes up his training (please join with me. only four weeks left)

our next post will more than likely include where we are headed next! How exciting. And I will be more detailed. Though, that isn't a promise. It's nap time around these parts.

July 23

4th of July

gparents and cousin Eliza!

NOLA

We took our first official family vacation (not counting trips "home" to the midwest) and it was quite a success.

John planned a trip to New Orleans without my knowing. We stayed right outside the French Quarters, meet my cousins Kim and Jaxon and had a wonderful weekend full of food, walking, food, shopping, food, perfect weather, swimming, and more walking. I could have easily spent the rest of the week exploring the city.

Mankato was a trooper. He took many naps in his stroller. Smiled at strangers. Ate bananas. And took his first swim in a pool. He did great. And we would both proudly say we are excited for our next family vacation with the little man(Kato). 

Where ever that may be.

In other news ... our little guy is growing WAY too fast. He has started to explore food!! So far he has ate/tried/chewed on: sweet potato, bananas (current fav), honeydew, brocolli, and ground oatmeal. He will be trying avocado this week at some point. Milk is still his favorite thing and it is not near as messy as the others. 

I can't get enough of him. Even on the fussy days, he's still the best.

baby boy's room

Mankato is five months as of yesterday and finally has some decor in his bedroom (not that he cares ... well, I take that back, he really seems to like it, but I'm sure he didn't wish for it). I wasn't in a huge rush. His furniture is great (Thank you SOHO Interiors), so the room never looked bare. Plus I didn't want to spend money on decor for a baby. I cannot wait for him to say "I want a dinosaur room" or "please, can I have a train room?" ...
ANYWAY. My greatest friend, Brooke, came to visit last month and our mission was to complete Kato's room. We spent hours planning, cutting, gluing, spray painting, shopping for supplies ... only were able to sneak away once for the beach.

Here is what we did ...

Painted the lamp, covered a "M" in fabric

The inspiration-John picked this bank out (he calls Kato a shark)

The cutie

simple navy curtains, framed sharks

painting from my friend, Lindsey!

sharks! in spray painted frames with scrapbook paper

another shark by the door

And my favorite piece (which was also the most time consuming) ... the mobile! I'll take more/better pictures of it. Mankato loves it too. It turned out perfect. Here is where we found it.

Once we have a permanent duty station I plan to paint some walls. More on that later.
In other Kato news ... He is a blast. Easily the coolest little baby I know. He talks A LOT (nonstop at times). Just this week he went running around with me and anyone that gave him eye contact got an ear full from him. It was cracking me up. And cracking everyone else up. A few ladies couldn't believe he was only five months and able to "hold a conversation". Ha! Then at one point an older gentleman started talking back to him and Mankato got the giggles. The. cutest. giggles. It was so fun. Love my little man(Kato). And his new room. And the diaper he just filled for me ...

New home! (again)

Back in December the possibility of moving was at least another 9 months away.... and here we are just three months later and entirely unpacked in a new home! We decided to move closer to base for John (and considering how easily he can come home for a quick minute, I am so glad we did). We moved onto base housing last month. So far, I love it. The house is perfect as far as space goes and we have a walking/running trail, dog park, pool, mini grocery store, red box, and play ground all within a five minute walk! I think I could get use to base housing after all.

The move was quite a move. Ever tried moving with a two month old? Yeah ... I wouldn't exactly recommend it. Lots of breaks during packing and lots of solo work on John's part. But it is done and we are settled. I kept reminding myself "in two weeks I will forget all this work" and I did. I honestly don't mind moving. I enjoy the unpacking and reorganizing and the purging and the cleaning that takes place. It's fun. (Ask me in ten years if I am still feeling the same).

Now for pictures ...

Trying out new decor

nice open living room with lots of light

big kitchen!

back patio/Belleau's room/2nd garage

office/craft room

my sewing station + Bells

master bedroom

Mankato's room (still in progress)

 

And there you have it. New house. 3bdr/2ba. One car garage. Lots of closets and the two extra rooms are a lot bigger than what we had before. I (and Belleau) miss the tile floors, but it is becoming home rather quickly.

In other news... John has started Advanced (Helicopter) school. He is on duty right now (0600-1800)... boo hoo. He has two tests under his belt and one more week of ground school then up in the air he goes! He is a studying fool and he is, once again, amazing me with his memory capacity. There is SO much MORE to learn. He's amazing and works so hard. When you think of him, pray for his brain. For him to retain the information he is studying and excel in this school.

My other man(Kato) is doing great! Typically he wakes up once during the night (I would say always but the last two nights have been a bit hairy). He loves talking to his momma and daddy, taking showers, going on walks, and playing on his play mat. I cannot believe how fast he is growing.

And I am amazed at how busy being a mom/wife is keeping me! I miss my classroom from time to time but I wouldn't trade the one adorable student I have for a thousand others. I have been sewing during nap time and working out during play mat time. I am (finally, after about an eleventh month hiatus) back in the kitchen (I think all of the new counter space has inspired me!). 

... and my baby is waking up.

Is it really February?

I haven't blogged since well before having a baby, and I had a baby seven weeks ago. That's right people, my son is SEVEN weeks old! I can hardly believe it. I will dedicate this blog entirely to him and hold off on other news.

Lets just have a little Frequently Asked Questions section.

How was the labor and delivery? 

Labor is such a beautiful thing (not pretty) and delivery is even more beautiful. I truly loved every part of it. A *quick* recap of my birth story (nothing gory, don't worry): my water ruptured Saturday morning (22nd) and time-able contractions started around 8PM. We headed to the hospital around 11PM and by 2AM I was 5CM and 90% effaced (so....far.....to.....go was my only thought). By 5AM I was 9CM and a little after 6AM I started pushing. He arrived at 7:39AM. There were several complications along the way...they kept losing his heart rate on the external monitor, his heart rate kept dropping and not coming up quick enough, there was meconium, he had the cord wrapped around his neck twice ... but he made it to the world and without any interventions! I am very thankful I was able to have the drug-free L&D that I desired and will do things the exact same way for baby #2. The pain was bearable and so empowering. I appreciate my body and my Creator for thinking of this miraculous, beautiful, fantastic, joyful event of birthing a baby. This is the short version. For a full version ... feel free to ask.

Where did the name Mankato come from? 

As we did not find out the gender of our baby, we arrived at the hospital with two girl names and two boy names and thought we'd "just know" once we met our little one. Let me tell you ... Mankato was not one of the four options. However, Mankato is a name John has loved for some time and was temporarily forgotten about until our little man arrived. We didn't exactly "just know", but we did know that the names we had didn't work which led us back to the drawing board and straight to Mankato. Mankato is a town in Kansas, which is where John heard it first. It means "blue earth" which frankly doesn't mean too much to us. Kato (which is what we are finding ourselves calling him) means "pure" or "all-knowing". I love that it is a strong name. I love that it has easy nicknames (Manny or Kato). I love that it is unique. I love that it is semi-easy to spell. I love that John thought of it. I love that is it my son's name.

How is he sleeping? 

Depends on the day/night. We had a great routine down before our visit home (in mid January) and we are now...slowly...getting that routine back. He prefers cat naps during the day with one long nap (typically in the morning or early afternoon). He likes to stay up till at least eleven (working on that bedtime) and he doesn't quite like his big boy crib (prefers his bassinet for bed time, and his swing, the couch, or us for naps). He will sleep four hours at night before he is absolutely starving and cannot fall back asleep with an empty belly... then eats ... and sleeps another 3-4 hours. Not horrible. I feel rested seven out of ten days. Again, not horrible.


How is Belleau doing with a baby? 

Our sweet little baby girl Belleau is not our baby anymore. She sure loved being an only child and getting entirely too much attention. Thankfully, we still love her the same. She truly is a great dog. Other than seeming attention starved when we have visitors at the house, she loves the baby and is adjusting well. She gets concerned when he cries and is not a big fan of other people holding him (or so it seems). She has matured greatly in the last seven weeks. And John makes a point to play with her for a little bit every day. I keep telling her she'll really love Mankato when he can chase her around.

If I didn't answer your Q in this FAQ, hit me up. Look for another post on a complete Lynch family update.

Babymoon to ATL

When I opened Blogger I saw my last post was in October. I can not even believe that to be true. Where in the world did the time go?

We did have an extremely busy November and one of the highlights was the babymoon John took me on. We went to Atlanta and stayed at a very nice hotel downtown. We had such a great time. we....

Ate delicious food. The best was a Sunday brunch that had entirely too many options and was right next to the runway at a little airport. We saw planes land and take off as we enjoyed plate after plate of amazing food (and you could put on headphones to listen to the towers!). 
Visited museums. We went to the Atlanta aquarium (saw the best dolphin show ever), Coca-Cola museum (tried sodas from all over the world), Fernbank museum (walked through the Khan exhibit), and the Atlanta History Center (where we walked through the Olympic exhibit and took a tour of a beautiful old house--my personal favorite of the museums).
Attended a NFL game. We were able to score some tickets to the Atlanta Falcons game and watch the (then) undefeated team take another win. It was unlike any football experience I had ever had. And the stadium was within walking distance from our hotel (just another added bonus).
We also slept in, shopped a little, saw family, laughed till our stomachs hurt, explored different areas of ATL, and got a massage. Neither of us wanted to come home. It was perfect in every way.

November also brought a trip home for John (and I stayed home and crafted, and surprisingly time went by quite fast while he was gone). John hunted while home and had a great time seeing family.
And a new job for John. He is working as an Air Traffic Control Flight Planning Dispatcher. What does that mean? No idea. It's to keep him busy until he starts his next school.
And a beautiful wedding on the beach.
And a trip from the Vandaments (minus Tyler and Lia) for Thanksgiving. And what a great Thanksgiving it was! The turkey was amazing (as well as all of the other food), we ate entirely too much, we went black Friday shopping (duh), set up Christmas decor, spoiled Belleau, and everyone but me learned how to drive (or ride?) a Segway on base. I love my family and love that they come visit us for Thanksgiving. We always have such a blast, and it always goes by way too fast.

That was our November ... and now it is December. I will try to sum up these three days of December in just a few sentences: my teaching career has been put on hold (as I become a mommy), we are loving our small group at church, and waiting for baby Lynch to make his or her arrival! Please be praying for a healthy labor and delivery, and baby! 

Phew. That was quite the blog.