Snow Day!

We were pretty ticked when we left Florence, everyone was talking about snow. Go figure we would have to leave the day BEFORE it snows. Anyway, when we got back home to Jacksonville, and what do you know...it's was supposed to snow here too! I was stoked and woke up about 3 times during the night that night to peek through the blinds and check for snow. It didn't really start snowing good until close to lunch time. We let it collect for a little while and finally took Jac and Kory outside for some playtime. Jac wasn't too crazy about the coldness. He was laughing the whole time, but didn't want to touch it or walk in it. He preferred to stick to the sidewalk. Afterwards, Jac laid down for a little afternoon nap and Cam made a run to K-mart. While he was gone, I built a little snowman at the top of our staircase. Now the snow is melting, and I'm pretty much done with winter. Go ahead and bring on the hot weather!

It's Official

So...we finally made a decision. After spending a couple of months weighing the pros and cons of me going home for Cam's deployment, we decided that I will come back to live in Florence until he gets out of the USMC. You know what that means...yes...I'll be mooching off Mom and Dad for the next year or so.

I'm not gonna lie, it's a big relief. After our test-run when Cam was at Mojave Viper, I was wiped out! I can't imagine having to stay in Jacksonville all by myself with a baby for 7-13 months. The one weekend I actually stayed home that month left me more exhausted than the drive back and forth from Jacksonville to Florence. Plus, having some type of adult conversation after work will be awesome. I also don't have to worry about Jac having one of his little mini panic attacks when I have to run out to the car to look for something, or heaven forbid...the BATHROOM! I'll be able to take a shower in peace, and if I get sick, I've got a back-up. Not to mention the unlimited baby-sitters and the little "nest-egg" we're hoping to save by me staying here. If Cam is planning on going to school when he gets home (and he is), we're gonna need every extra penny we can get.

Leaving my kids in the middle of they year is tough. They drive me absolutely nuts and I firmly believe that I am not cut out to be a first grade teacher (that is if I am cut out to be a teacher at all), but in all honesty, they are such a sweet group of kids. I know they are going to take the news hard. Kids come and go all the time, and you sort of get used to saying goodbye to them after a while. A good boss, on the other hand, is extremely hard to find. Our principal is so nice (some say too nice). She tries hard to help teachers out (and keep them sane). She's the type of person that you really don't want to disappoint. I finally worked up the nerve to type up my resignation letter and meet with her last week. I was super-nervous and literally sick about it. I didn't want to leave it in her box or on her desk to just "find." I wanted to meet with her and talk about why I made the decision to leave in the middle of a school year. Her reaction was an answered prayer. She was so supportive and actually said that she admired me for putting my family first. She also said that she would be more than willing to write up a letter of reference for me if I choose to work (big relief!). I was so worried that she was going to be angry or that she would try to talk me out of leaving, but instead she gave me a hug and said that she would miss me. Seriously...I have the best boss in the world! Am I a complete idiot for giving all of this up???

So now, my to-do list is getting longer by the second. There are:

assessments and conferences to complete
boxes to pack
furniture to move
utilities to cancel
addresses to change
lessons to plan
storage buildings to scout
Land Rover to sell (anyone interested??? lol)

NOT TO MENTION

baby to feed
diapers to change
clothes to wash
pre-deployment crap to think about

...all the while trying to spend some quality family time with my soon-to-be overseas husband! I don't even want to think about having to tackle this new endeavor without my best-friend and the only person who really understands my warped sense of the world. What the heck am I getting myself into??? Don't get me wrong, I have the most incredible parents for not only LETTING me come home to live, but actually WANTING me to come. I know that sometimes "The Family" (my little mafia) can be a bit suffocating, but I am totally blessed to have their support, no matter what!

Oh yeah, so, since first grade isn't really working out that great for me, (I'm not all about tying shoes, bagging up lost teeth, and sending kids to the nurse's office for a dry change of clothes), I figure I'll try my hand at fifth and take over Kimmi's class when she goes out on maternity leave. I'm sure that I'll have a whole new (and more mature...lol) set of pet peeves to go with it. More to come on that later.

So I guess this is the start to a whole new chapter of my life. A little scary, a little exciting, a lot sad, but at least I'm not doing it alone.

Updates...

So it's been a little while since I've updated this thing. We've been back home in SC since the 23rd. We left a little later than we wanted to because of Jac's one year well baby appointment at the Naval Hospital. I love taking a healthy baby to the dr. to hear just how healthy he is. Everything was fine...we really didn't have any concerns anyway. He weighs almost 24 pounds! That's like half of what I weighed in the third grade! They said he was in the 50-75th percentile in his height and weight and 95 in head circumference. Yikes! I was feeling a little upset about that, but apparently he's growing right along and they didn't have any conerns. Got to have a big head to fit his big brain inside I guess.

Then, along came Christmas. First at the Dot's for a celebration with Cam's step siblings. I think G-ma Dotty was upset because Jac got cranky so we laid him down in the pop up crib and he missed presents (it's not like he would open them himself anyway).

The next morning....SANTA CAME!! Jac had fun playing with his new vibrating hedgehog and Penn's aquadoodle. After all the siblings got here, the house was packed with presents, people, and puppies. I always knew that we had a big family (my parents, big bro, big sis, Kimmi, and me) but with all of us crammed into Mom and Dad's house, all 17 of us (with one on the way) that is, you can really feel intimidated. We all sat down in 3 different rooms to eat breakfast. Finally, Cam, Jac and I all layed down for a nap.

After lunch we headed to Aunt Ann's house for the Carmon family gift exchange, and then went straight over the Meme's house for our last party. I was really excited about this one because of Cam's special present I was able to organize from the family. It's always hard to switch gears from my family to Cam's. My family is so huge. When we all get together and open presents, we can go through hundreds of packages in a matter of minutes. In Cam's family, they open presents one-by-one. All of the attention is on you and it's so quiet (with only 6 people besides us), it's nerve racking. Everyone is watching your reaction and it takes a good 3 hours to finish the whole process. Anyhow, after being tourtured with anxiety, Cam finally got to open his big present... A LAPTOP!! I was so excited about it. I really wanted him to have one to take with him in Iraq, so that we can talk on a webcam and he could watch movies and everything. After all the fuss, we went home and I crashed while Cam played with his new toy all night long.

Jac playing with his new toy at Meme's

Fast forward a couple of days and we were headed to Highlands, NC with Kimberly, Pack, and Penn. We had a blast in our cool lodge and pretending like we were rich going to nice restaurants and shopping around the ritzy little town. We did a little bit of hiking and climbing (you know...to remind me just how out of shape I actually am, and what an annoyingly athletic stud I'm married to). Jac stayed with Grandma Dotty for three nights. It was all I could do not to cry without him there, but I had a blast on this last little excursion with Cam before he deploys.

Stopping for some pictures at an overlook.

Our last night in Highlands

Back in Flo-town...HAPPY 2009!! It was time to pack up the Land Rover and head back to reality in Jacksonville for a much more somber coundown...days until Iraq. It's just now starting to become real, with talk about what I'm gonna do while he's away and possibly moving back to Florence. They are officially changing the time overseas from just 7 months to 7-14 months, meaning there is a possibility he might be extended. They will be the last USMC unit in Iraq (the rest of the Marine Corps will be in Afghanistan) and they are responsible for moving the USMC base over to an Army base. I'm definitely not ready for all of this, but I know it'll all be worth it when he get's back and we run like the wind away from military life and start all over again.

Oh well, too much to think about right now...time for some quality DS time with my hubby...lol!