It's Christmas Time

We took Braydon to go see Santa today. Last year he flat out refused to sit on Santa's lap. I held him and he continued to scream. This year he promised me that he was going to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas. Both Chris and I didn't think it was going to happen, but we took him anyways. We went to lunch first and then went to wait in line for Santa. There was only one other girl in front of him waiting for Santa. He kinda started to look like he did last year and we thought okay we will go home. Then he finally proved us both wrong and walked up to him, sat on his lap and everything! I'm so proud of my little boy he is growing up!

3 1/2 years old

I'm almost a month late in getting this post up, but I wanted to have this in writing for when Braydon gets older. Braydon is 3 and 1/2 years old. Wow how time flies by! He changes are grows every day and keeps us laughing.

• 42" tall and about 40 lbs.
• Loves trains, planes and boats.
• Loves to watch Special Agent Oso, Chuggington, the Imagination Movers, and Handy Manny.
• Also loves the tween shows on Disney channel. 
• Asked who his best friend is and he said it was Hayden his cousin :)
• Talked in third person for a long time until Mommy and Daddy broke the habit.
• Was Spiderman for Halloween.
• Got his doggie Kolbe.
• Loves to watch videos on youtube with his Daddy.
• Loves to Skype with all his family.

Christmas Season

I really can't believe it is December already. It feels like the year has just flown by. Today we decided to take a Christmas photo. I didn't have enough time to fully plan out how I wanted to do them, so I just kind of through us all in front of the tree.

Originally I wanted to include Kolbe in the picture, but he wouldn't sit still. Maybe next year I'll plan it out well before hand and get the real picture I want.

Lead up to Halloween

This Halloween we have Spider-Man in the house! Those who know us know that we usually go as a theme family. Well this year Braydon didn't want to be the pirate that I had picked out. He wanted Spider-Man! Guess the time of me picking out costumes has already gone away!

This past Wednesday Braydon and I went to a Spooky Tots event held near our home. The event had a magician, face painting, trick-or-treating, and pumpkin decorating. I eventually had to take Braydon away from the table because we would have ended up with all the stickers on his pumpkin!

The house is all decorated for Halloween. This is just a sample of what we have done. These are the crafts that Braydon made! More Halloween pictures to come.

Meet Kolbe

Here is the newest addition to our family. Kolbe is 2 1/2 and a collie mix. We rescued him about a month ago and he is settling nicely into our household. He was rescued from a high kill shelter located in Eastern Kentucky. We picked him up in Maryland at a home he was being fostered at. So far it is like having another child in the house. He and Braydon get along great but they like to wrestle and bug one another!

Swim Lessons

Today was the first day of Braydon's swim lessons. He was all excited and talked about these lessons for weeks leading up to today. We signed up for lessons at a local gym by our house. They have an indoor pool and offer 8 thirty minute lessons at a decent price. We arrived a little early and watched the other swim lessons going on. When it was time for our lessons Braydon walked right into the pool with me. Then when the teacher started he wouldn't do any of the things she asked. He usually loves water, but today he just was clinging to me. Then when we started to move to the deeper part of the pool he clung harder and started to cry and scream. He kept saying that I was going to drop him. Hopefully tomorrow's lesson will go a little better, because if this is what he is going to do all the time then it was a waste of money.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! This was our first 4th of July being back in the USA and we spent it sweating to death! Well actually I took Braydon to see Madagascar 3 while Chris mowed the lawn in 99 degree weather. After Braydon and I got home we headed to the Potomac Nationals game. In theory that sounded like a good idea, however this was a very bad idea!

The game started at 6:30pm and it was still 96 degrees outside!!! The ball park didn't have any shade so we were just baking in the sun. After two innings we just couldn't take it anymore, and Braydon couldn't handle sitting in bleachers and staying still. We decided to head home and see if we could catch any fireworks at home. We say some and also watched some on TV.

After we put Braydon to bed we heard several neighbors lighting off their fireworks and also saw a major thunderstorm coming in. It was a good 4th but way too hot!!!!!

Day 3 Potty Training

According to the book "3 day potty training" this was the final day. Well Braydon is doing great with the potty training. He still wears a pull  up at nap time and night time. Which is alright because most kids aren't fully potty trained at sleep time at this age. We are still working on the pooping in the potty. Whenever he poops in his pants we ask him what he is supposed to do when he needs to poop. He repeats that he is to use the potty but keeps pooping in his pants. Hopefully he will get this step down soon because cleaning up poop in underwear is just gross!

Day 2 of potty training

It's amazing what one full day of potty training and being consistent can do. When Braydon got up this morning I put big boy underpants on him and took him to the potty.We went to the potty every half hor and he did excellent. Only a few accidents during the day and those were just poopy diapers. Now I need to get him comfortable with doing that in the toilet!

Giveaway

So I belong to several sites online that offer giveaways. While I normally do not enter because I never believe I'll win anything, I've changed my mind. As most of you know I'm really into photography and love Nikon products. So when I came across a giveaway for a new camera I jumped. In order to gain more entries I was asked to post about it to my blog. So that is the reason for this post. And now back to really scheduled blogs!

Day 1 Potty Training

 

Today we really started potty training Braydon. We had tried before and took all the steps, but he just didn't want to do it, he fought us tooth and nail. But after hearing about the 3 day potty training method I decided to really try hard and not give in. It was about time no more excuses. If we want to get him into preschool in the fall then he needs to be out of diapers and using the toilet. 

When Braydon is awake we keep him in underwear, but when he goes down for naps or bed time it's back to the diaper. We want to make sure he stays dry for most of the day and tackle the naps and night time later. 

He did good most of the day he sat on the toilet every thirty minutes, had four accidents and six successes. The major accident was when he pooped in his underpants! Overall I think he did good. The one thing I noticed was that when the timer went off and he refused to sit on the toilet, that's when we had a problem. Hopefully each day we continue it will get better!

Sprinkler toy fun

Braydon loves summer. He loves to be outside and playing. Last summer he had a water table that he loved to play with. We choose to not move with it and give it to our friend who's son absolutely loved it. This summer we had a water table in our cart and ready to buy when we spotted this toy. Braydon was given a choice and choose these toy sprinkler. He absolutely loves it and couldn't wait to play with it. We have only had this toy since Saturday and he has played with it every day. So glad we bought it and he enjoys it!

Future posts

I know I have been horrible about updating this blog since we have moved back to the states. I just got stuck in a rut and didn't know if I should continue this blog or not. It seems like nobody really ever reads it anymore, and also like all my photos I'm uploading are to facebook and not on here. For now I'll keep updating this blog. I'll try to be better at it but can't guarantee. 

Easter

Happy Easter! Well okay Easter was a few days ago but I didn't have time to post until now. We had a quiet Easter here. We colored Easter eggs on Friday and then had the circus on Saturday and Easter on Sunday. We woke up had Braydon wanting to get downstairs to see if the bunny came. He went to the front window and peeked out to see if he could catch the bunny. When he didn't see he bunny and I was able to persuade him into the living room, he found eggs and a basket from the bunny. We spent the rest of the day making phone calls and wishing everyone a Happy Easter. Then we had a nice meal and just spent the evening chilling. Maybe next year we can be at home celebrating with everyone. Who knows maybe Braydon will actually sit on the bunny's lap!

 

Circus

I really can't believe we just celebrated Easter, it seems like just yesterday we celebrated Valentines Day. Time is surely passing quickly. Braydon has never been a fan of people in costumes. Because of that we chose not to take him to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap. Then one day he told us he wanted to sit on the bunny's lap. Okay we thought then we will take him. We went to the mall and when we got near the bunny he said he didn't want to sit on his lap. So we just waved at the bunny and that really excited Braydon. Days went by and he continued to talk about the bunny. He again said he wanted to sit on his lap. So we went to the mall one more time and got in line to sit on his lap. Then he said no again. So we decided to ride the train that was in the mall instead and he was thrilled about that.

After that we headed to lunch and then to the circus. Braydon had never been to a circus and we were very excited to take him. He had a blast! I would say his favorite was seeing the Elephants. Suddenly he has become a big fan of the Elephant.

New development

As most of you know I haven't been happy with my weight since I gave birth to Braydon almost 3 years ago. I've tried to eat better, but my will power is not very good and eating like Chris doesn't help either. I also tried to just hit the gym but didn't like going at night when Chris got home, plus after going for a few weeks and not seeing any results I gave up. So tonight I decided to sign-up for Weight Watchers. I tried Jenny Craig before Chris and I got married and it really helped me, but I had to eat their food. I also tried the 17 Day Diet but didn't like a lot of the foods on the diet. So I figured with Weight Watchers I could eat what I like or at least most of what I like. We will see how it goes, I'm also going to try to get some workouts in when Braydon is taking his nap. Wish me luck!

House is becoming a home

Well it's been awhile since my last post, but I've been busy putting my house together. We had my Step-Mom fly out so she could watch Braydon while Chris and I put everything away. It's been a week since she came and everything is almost all put away. We are loving the house and it feels so good to be back in the USA and living in a house that the walls aren't made out of concrete. There were things we had never put up when living in Sicily because the walls were just too hard. We have ordered some new furniture and most of it should be here by Tuesday! Braydon got a big boy bed, but it is back ordered so he will have to wait. We have met some neighbors and they all seem very nice. What's funny is that the two that I met are both military families! I'll take pictures and post once we have completed the house.

New Home

So we arrived in Virginia and started looking for a house.  We had been looking before we left Italy and had a few saved to view when we arrived. Then right before we got to VA a new house popped up and both Chris and I fell in love. We met with the realtor on Monday and got approved on Tuesday! Talk about wasting no time. The only problem we are now faced with is waiting to see what happens with Chris and his job. He had to complete some testing and that is what is holding us on moving forward. As it stands right now the house is ours to rent. We just have to wait for finally conformation from the job and then we can sign the lease and move in. All of our household goods are sitting in storage in Maryland so that is great news, it's only a short drive and they are here! We hope to have everything worked out by this coming Monday and then we can move in. Below is the front of the house. The following is a link to view more information and pictures. http://www.redfin.com/VA/Bristow/9927-Broadsword-Dr-20136/home/9402545#_=_

Back In The USA

This post is a little late since we have been back in the states for over a week and a half now! I've finally gotten some down time to write about our trip home. We left on a Thursday on the bi-weekly scheduled military flight back to Norfolk, VA. Our flight was supposed to leave at 8pm but didn't end up leaving until 10pm. Then we headed to Rota, Spain for a little layover. We ended up with seats in the middle of the plane and in a row of three, so Braydon was in between Mommy and Daddy. The flight to Spain is about 3 hours. Our plain was to keep Braydon awake until we got back on the flight and headed to the US, but guess what? that didn't happen! They gave us a snack when we first got on the plane and then Braydon crashed. We had to wake him up when we arrived in Spain and needless to say he wasn't happy. Not only did we wake him up but it was 1am and he had to stay awake until 3am!

Once we finally were able to get back on the plane we got another meal and luckily Braydon crashed again. This time he was able to sleep as long as he would like. Both Chris and I tried to sleep but anyone who has traveled overseas can agree that sleeping in coach seats is not very easy. Braydon slept for a few hours but when he woke up he wanted to get off the plane and we still had a about three hours left. Luckily he watched some dvd's and we got breakfast then we landed in Norfolk. Once in Norfolk we had to go through customs and then catch a cab and head to the commercial terminal and fly to Baltimore then onto Chicago.

After the cab dropped us at the commercial terminal we had about 2 hours to kill before our flight. We got some Starbucks and let Braydon watch the planes. Braydon did great on the first flight to Baltimore, it didn't hurt that the flight is really short. Then we had a layover in Baltimore where we got some lunch and watched some more planes before our flight to Chicago. Braydon fell asleep on the flight to Chicago and didn't want to wake up to get off the plane. I ended up having to carry him off the plane! He finally woke up when we told him he was going to see Papa! Dad picked us up and we got to finally relax and not worry about planes anymore for quite awhile!

Goodbye Sicily

Wow three years already! Sicily has been good to us, but it is time to move onto a new home and new adventures. As I write this we have only 2 days and a wake-up left here. All of our stuff finally left yesterday, and today our car leaves. Today will be spent cleaning our house. Tomorrow we we have the finally inspection of our house, and then fly out on Thursday. The next month we will be living in Chicago, Kentucky, and Virginia! Our final destination is Chantilly, Virginia and will be there for at least the next three years. Then who knows what will happen. Chris will be retired from the Navy and will have to work a civilian job! This year is already exciting for us with all the new adventures. Our move, new job, new car, new house, new friends, old friends, Braydon going to school, and whatever else is ahead for us!

Strike

Last week the Farmers, Fisherman, and Truckers decided to strike for the week. This resulted in us not having gas as well as running out of food at the commissary. A lot of the service members here and now without gas, and there is a gas strike scheduled to start tomorrow (Monday) and run through Friday. Although reports suggest that the strike may continue until the 1st of Feb. We are doing okay here as we have enough food for the next week and a half. However, we are scheduled to do our express shipment pack out and wine shipment on the 30th. I'm praying that this strike will end early and we are able to get everything shipped out on time.

Oops!

We have been stationed in Sicily for three years now and only had three incidents with the car. The roads here are very narrow and the drivers are CRAZY! The first damage occurred on base at the hospital. I went in to get Braydon looked at when he split his head open, and came out to a dent on my passenger door. The second happened when we went on a command wine tasting and Chris hit the curb. This caused the tire to split and eventually caused my flat tire. The third and hopefully last happened last night when we went to Catania for dinner. We were on our way home when Chris hit a sign that was in the road. Guess we are now even on the mirrors being broken on the car. I broke the passenger one and he broke the driver one. Hopefully we won't be in trouble with a broken item on the car when we go to ship it!

Things to accomplish in 2012

Since it is a new year and we are getting ready to move I've been thinking of things I'd like to accomplish in 2012. These are not resolutions because let's face it each year I make them and each year they are not followed. So instead of naming this resolutions I'll name them accomplishments. Of course there is the ever present losing of weight, followed by eating better. Also I'd like to update this blog more regularly, and take more pictures. I've seen some challenges online for 30 day photos where you take pictures of something given for 30 days. Some other things that I'd like to do is craft more and that would make my craft wish list get smaller instead of bigger. Then there are the things I'd like to accomplish with Braydon. Once we move I've decided that I will force the potty training issue. We want to get him into preschool once we move and he will need to be potty trained. There are also accomplishments for us as a family and those are ones I know will be completed. Like the buying of a new house, and some new furniture. I'm writing these down because then I'm more likely to follow them. I believe 2012 will be a good year for the Hughes family!!!!

Moving out phase 1

Today we had the first step of our move out process. The movers came and packed almost everything and put it in boxes, then into crates. We had our good friend Kristy watch Braydon so he would not get in the way of the movers. They started off with five movers and had to call into two extra men to help pack. The whole process took eight hours, and we filled eight crates. All that is in our house now is some kitchen stuff, our clothes, a tv, and Braydon's crib. We are living on temporary furniture until we fly out of here in three weeks. Phase two will be done on the 30th and will be everything that is pretty much here now. Then we will be living out of suitcases until our stuff arrives in the US. We should expect everything to get there in about 60 days. Hopefully this is our last move. I love the fact that we get to live all over, but hate having to move and find a new house, new friends, and a new job. Three years left with Chris in the military and then we will be moving less frequently hopefully.

Etna erupts again

Mt. Etna erupted this morning. All that it left at my house is a lot of black ash. That means I get to go outside and wash everything down. I love having the view of an active volcano outside my kitchen window, I don't love the ash it leaves me as it's going away present. Add that to the list of things I won't miss when I leave here in a month!