Lock me down with the GOLD!!

So that's the best hint I could come up with..lol. We are going to Ft. Knox, KY in December. Joe will be an SGI for a Calvary unit...a pretty high profile position for someone with just one command so I am very proud of him. They even moved the report date back for him to give him more time. The kind of bad news is is that this unit may be moving to Ft Benning..not a bad place by any means just means a possible move 10-12 months after we get there...so yuck. Plus I like the fact that Knox is fairly close to here (2.5 hours) and we can visit easily. If we move to Benning that's about 6 hours... not so easy.
We have trully been blessed with this home. We love it. I knew it as soon as we pulled in the drive way. We built a barn here, brought two kids home here, and had Big Joe home for the longest ever (18 months). So these facts, combined with the current housing market, and the longing to come back to TN one day we were more willing to rent than sell. And guess what?? Some great friends of ours have been house shopping for some time and have offered to rent our home!! So this means I don't have to bang that "for sale" sign in the ground just yet, although I 'm sure I will need a box of tissues on moving day. But I know this place will be in good hands.
Other updates....Joe loved gymnastics camp and boy having a calm relaxed child at home in the afternoons after 5 hours of tumbling was sooooo nice. Bug now has two teeth!!! From zero to two in less than five days :). Garretto is still cute as ever...I just love to hear him talk these days. Two yr old voices are stinking cute.....kinda makes up for the tantrums and wild banchee squealing they do ;).
Well that's about it from here. We are less than 90 days til Joe gets home and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

More randomness..yes, the limbo continues.

So I am trying to fill my mind with business. Can ya tell? LOL

So for an update on Big Joe and next duty station. Still nothing. I have only learned that we may have to move much sooner than I had originally planned, or at least Joe will report earlier and the kids and I will follow come January. The more people I talk to about Irwin the more nervous I get. But I know God is in control and I will keep praying for His will...but just remind Him how concerned I am.

I cannot believe the summer is almost over!! Joe has a week of gymnastics camp starting tomorrow (wooohooo). Then I have 4 days with him, and that's it! He is back to school! Something really cute Joe said today on the way to church.

Joe- "Mama, they don't have submarines in the military."

Me- "Yes, babe, they do in the Navy and Marines."

Joe- "Oh, I didn't know that. (long pause) Well, they don't have a kayak cuz there is no where to mount the gun."

I nearly had to pull over I burst in to laughter.

Random cuteness of all three.
Garrett is doing well. Talking more every day. Still working on the potty training, but not perfect yet.
My lil heart breaker...I can't stop thinking about the lil girls knockin on my door for him.

Katie is the same. She did get her very first tooth this week. And I pierced her ears...something I never thought I would do so young. But never say never...you know! I did get two of her tests back with negative results. I should hear more this week. I think this will be a pretty long road though. Patience, Liz, patience.

Look Mama, My big brothers gave these to me. I think I like em!! Can you see my purty new earrings? :)

For being such a tomboy myself...I LOVE dressing her up. So much fun!

And just a random P90X update. Phase II was difficult for me. Had to redo a week. Didn't feel well at other times, and the late nights were really catching up. But I have lost 5.5 inches total from my waist. The scale has still not moved but I can see all sorts of muscle definition I haven't seen in a long long time....like teenage years. So woohoo!! I'm hoping Joe being at camp next week will let me workout during nap time again since the 10pm thing is TOUGH. And I can hit phase three harder than ever when school starts!!

Limbo Blog

The past couple of weeks have been full of limbo. Joe will hear any day on what our next post will be. Of course we would love to stay here for several reasons, awesome school, awesome house, my Dad is 20 minutes away, great church and friends. But we (mostly I) are learning to just appreciate where we are even if it is only for a few short months. Like they say, the anticipation is much worse than the event. So we will wait...and even though I don't look forward to putting a for sale sign on this beautiful property I am so excited about being a complete family again.

We are also in waiting on the health of Katie (kinda of another reason why I am nervous to move). Her doctors are very concerned with her size and are running several tests. I like the fact that they are being thorough but it is very scary for them to list a bunch of things that could possibly be wrong with your baby (enter Little Joe flashbacks here...shiver). I am trying to look at it as I will love her no matter what they say and we will learn to handle any if any issue she might have.

Other things we have been doing are having a yard sale, getting Katie's 9 month pics taken, getting church directory pictures taken, and growing veggies :) I was so please to pick my very first watermelon the other day!!!! Although I picked it a little early..pout. Did you know you have to have bees to grow melons? Luckily we do :). And there is a very fine line with a ripe melon and an overripe melon...hence the picking early. And you can't "thump test" the melon in the heat of the day to see if it's ripe because they all sound that way. Need to do it in the morning or evening. I have a whole new appreciate for melon farmers :) Hopefully my next one will be PERFECT!! I have enjoyed a tomatoe and an ear of corn though :) Yum this has got to be my favorite part of summer...just just can't beat homegrown food. Ok random pics to go with random post ;)

My first harvest of the season :)

sneak peek at Kati's pics....so stinkin CUTE!!

The boys wanted to build a fort and decided their sister needed to be in on the action :)

Joe comforting Garrett...melt my heart.

Move over..Joe is 6!!

I cannot believe my sweet 6lb 10oz baby is 6 years old. He had such a good time yesterday despite the rain all day. They still enjoyed the slip-n-slide as well as about 120 water balloons. It was crazy and loud but man did they have fun!! Joe decided he wanted a construction themed party so I did my best and thought everything turned out really cute :) There was of course cake and a pinata too :)

Pretty good Mom :)

Whack it!

We liked it too!!

A friend shared her son's birth story and things she loved about him....just another idea I will steal from her (thanks Heather :)). Joe was deployed to Iraq and I had had a pretty complicated pregnancy with Joe. I was life flighted to Topeka for 2 weeks after going into preterm labor and suffering a heart condition. So by the time 37 weeks came around I was ready to have that baby. A good friend of mine was visiting me and she was almost as determined and decided to take me out for buffalo wings and a 2 mile walk to get things started. So when contractions started a few hours later I was slightly hopeful but didn't think it would happen. My friend drove me to the hospital at about 4pm. My blood pressure was up and I was 4 cm, so the doc just decided to break my water. Woohoo!! Then after 13 hours of natural labor and 1.5 hours of pushing (yes natural people...was told I couldn't have an epidural because of hardware in my back) Joseph Ollin was born at 3:05am. I will never forget after peeing on the doctor she looked at me and said "He better look like your husband cuz he doesn't look a thing like you." There was no doubt he was his father's son and the argument over his name was settled. I couldn't name him Jacob...he was definitely a Joe. He was perfect and precious. And although he has endured a lot he continues to amaze me. Love him to pieces :)

Now to 6 things I love about 6yr old Joe

1. His smile...everyone talks about it...it lights up the room.
2. His love. This child is so loving, to his siblings, to his parents, to just about everyone.

3. His goofiness. He has an awesome since of humor and can crack me up even when I am down.

4. His eyes...they are like cool water. I think they are beautiful.

5. His toughness..I'm not sure if I could be as tough as this little boy.

6. His brain...this kid is SOOO smart I know I know every Mom says that about their kid but he has a way with numbers and I really think he has a photographic memory. He can tell you what day of the week almost any date on the calendar is...it's crazy.