Wow, It's been over a month since I've updated. Time has gotten away from me. We have been so busy lately, I feel as if I've barely had a chance to keep up w/ anything or anyone. We had the moving company come to our house Nov 26 to pack up most everything to put into permenant storage for while we are in Okinawa. That wasn't as much of a nightmare as we'd initially thought it would be. I hope all our moves (at least the packing and movers) go as well and as easy. After we had everything packed up for perm storage, we had to finish taking everything else to our temp storage unit or to my mom's where we are staying til we leave for Oki. Then it was time to do the most dreaded - cleaning everything in the house, including getting the carpets cleaned. I think our house was cleaner when we left it then when we got it. Which is sad, considering it was brand new construction, just for us. Whoever the cleaning company was they hired, did a bad job. But oh well, I feel good knowing that the couple and there 2.5 yr old daughter are moving into a house that is nice and clean for their fresh start here. I know I would want the same. We started staying here in Harkers Island, NC w/ my parents the evening after we closed on the house. Things are going very well here. A lot of people questioned how odd or difficult it would be to live w/ your parents again. It's great. It's a whole different dynamic now. My parents do their thing, we do ours. We do things together to some, but there really arent any set requirements, other that to clean up after yourself. We have the whole upstairs to ourselves, w/ our own rooms and bathroom. It's very nice and I'm so glad we get all this time to spend w/ them before we leave. I know in a way it will make it that much more difficult, but I will cherish these last few months here. I wish we could do the same w/ Matt's parents and my dad and Jo, as well as the rest of the family.
Wow....it's been well over a month since i've had a chance to update this. I promise i'll try and do better when we get to Oki. A lot has happened since i started this post. Christmas, which was great. Max got tons and tons of stuff. Had to actually take a few things back, some b/c he already had them or I knew he'd out grown them before we left. Which I hate to do b/c i don't want to hurt anyones feelings, but theres no use in having it just sit around and collect dust. We exchanged them for items he needed or items that we knew he'd play w/ for a while. Max got an Urlacher (Chicago Bears) Jersey from us, as well as some books and smaller toys. He also got an Inchworm that you can scoot on or bounce on to move. He got some clothes, some neat toys like a tool box w/ shapes you hammer in the corresponding holes, and soo much more. I can't even remember everything he received. It was a fun yet sad time, knowing that we'd be leaving in a matter of a few months. Max now has 7 teeth. He got his two top front teeth the wk following christmas. He claps, blows raspberries (it's a game between us actually, we do it back and forth), throws his arms up and yells (which translates to 'touchdown!!!), and waves. He's learned so much lately. He's also learned to drop cherrios and other food off the high chair or walker for the dogs....which isn't so great when we're out to eat...and theres no dogs...
Anyway, we had a great new years. we spend new years eve shopping in Greenville w/ our friend's the Jenkins and Andersons and then spent the night at the Jenkins.
Matt got his promotion to SSgt on the 1st and was pinned on the first day back from their holiday, which was Jan 3. Max and I were both able to be there and I was able to pin him! It's the first one i've been able to go to. We have a lot going on now. We are trying to get everything straight for the movers/packers to take all of our Household Goods for the slow boat shipment. We have to make sure everything is seperated and doesn't get sent at the wrong time. That shipment goes at the end of this month and our express shipment goes at the beginning of March. We found out our flight schedule, we leave the day after Max's birthday. Because of when we're leaving and when the shipments are scheduled, we'll be having Max's birthday party about 10days early. I'm currently working on getting it all put together. I hope it turns out well.
