Summer Update

As we wrap up our time in Texas, we are finding life to be a little more challenging, which is pretty normal before a move.  A few things we have learned about moving during our years in the Navy:

• It takes about one year to feel good in a new place, two years to feel like you belong.  This kind of stinks, because that's just about the time we usually move on to the next place.  We have been in San Antonio for two years and at our new church for one year, so it's right around the time that we have become attached enough to people and our routines to not want to move!!
• Resist the urge to attempt to drive straight through....to anywhere!  Even chugging 2 Red Bulls at once will not save you at 5 a.m....just ask Josh.  Our trip to California will take us on the scenic route through Dallas, TX; Springfield, MO; Portland, OR; and Las Vegas.  And we have about a month to leisurely make our way to Monterey.  We're excited to visit friends and family on our road trip before we become a two-child family and never take long trips by car or airplane again...until they all hit college or we hit the lottery.
• Everyone you love will want to have a special one-on-one dinner with you "one last time" during the last 2 weeks before you move.  So as always, we find ourselves overwhelmed with friends at the moment.  And that's something to be truly thankful for.
• Don't even think about where you will live until you get there.  It's tough to get a rental house ahead of time and sort of scary to pick one out on the internet anyway, so we will be looking for a place to rent when we arrive in California in September.  Josh will have about 3 weeks between his check-in at school and actually starting classes, so we will be looking in earnest then.

Saying goodbye to friends will be tough

The last few weeks have brought a number of fun and exciting events in our lives.  First, we found out during my 20 week ultrasound that we will be welcoming a sweet baby boy in November.  I am now thanking myself for buying all our baby gear in gender-neutral colors.  Two of my friends have been gracious enough to offer to host baby showers for me, and it's nice to need mostly diapers and clothes the second time around.  Our son's name will be David Paul Stonehouse, named for two of our favorite heroes from the Bible, and also two of our favorite men, Grandpa Hays and Grandpa Stonehouse.  He looks very healthy on ultrasound, and has been kicking for many weeks already!

Josh also recently received some much-anticipated news about his Navy career: he has been selected to put on the rank of Lieutenant Commander (O4, for those of you who understand that kind of thing) in the fall of 2015, which is no small accomplishment.  The Navy has a promote or get-out policy for officers: if you do not move up to the next rank within the time period allotted by the Navy, they will kindly ask you to look for work elsewhere.  So there is always pressure to promote, even on someone who excels at his job like Josh does.  We do not take this blessing lightly; as I have written in past posts, anything can happen to you in the Navy, even if you're a great officer.  Your success can turn on a dime and seem arbitrary at times, and we see our heavenly Father at work in providing for us.

In the middle of packing, sorting, and keeping our house clean for future renters to look at, Jackie and I just wrapped up a very busy week of Vacation Bible School, or Quest, as our church calls it.  Our theme this year was Agency D3: Discover, Decide, Defend.  We were secret agents uncovering evidence about Jesus.  I ended up co-teaching a preschool class that spanned ages 2 to 5 with very little time to prepare, and was not feeling particularly up to the task.  Quest lasted from 8:30 to 1:30 (breakfast and lunch provided!) and I spent most of the rest of my time prepping activities for the next day (my hat is off to preschool and kindergarten teachers - you have so many activities to prepare for those little munchkins!).  But it ended up being a very rewarding experience!  It was exciting to be able to teach these little ones about Jesus and feel like I could really pull off teaching with enough preparation.  Jackie was in my class, and as our youngest camper, she enjoyed herself as much as you would imagine.  She learned to say her Bible verse and could answer questions about our Bible stories.  She made more crafts than you can imagine and learned motions to all the songs (see her on the right side in the videos below).

Our Quest class in our secret agent disguises!

Jackie is now two and half, and a blast to be around.  Some new developments have made her even more enjoyable:

• Pretend play has taken off.  Her baby dolls are always going for a picnic (on the kitchen floor), shopping (in my pantry), playing with a "parachute" (blanket), riding in a boat (box), etc.  If no baby dolls are around, an empty water bottle will be put to bed instead.  She is a very sweet mommy.  She finally figured out that she can name her dolls, so in addition to Josh Bear, she now has "Aunt Amanda" and "Jilla" to play with.  I also suspect she has an imaginary friend named "Challallah".

Time for your checkup, Jilla

You too, Josh Bear

Ready to take her babies shopping

• Her sense of humor has developed, and she's always trying to make us laugh.  She will say something like, "You're a cookie!" and then burst into hysterical giggles.  She loves to make and laugh at silly faces.  But don't get into a tickle fight with her: she pinches!

This is how we read magazines, right?

• Daddy and Jackie have been forming a closer bond now that I am pregnant and he is bearing more of burden of Jackie's care, especially the heavy lifting!  There are many times that she will say something, and if I respond, she will correct me: "No, I talking to Daddy!"

She loves dancing with Daddy!

• She is making very clear connections between her actions and consequences.  Tonight, I asked her to tell me why we had to leave our friend's house early, and she correctly told me it was because she had disobeyed.  I love being able to talk to her more in depth about right and wrong.

Fun at the Children's Museum

The Navy will send a moving company to pack our household goods on July 21-22, and the moving truck will be packed on the 23rd.  We'll spend 2 weeks living with a friend and cleaning the house.  Right now it looks like Josh will be working right up until we leave on August 6.  So we would love your prayers during our time of transition.  Looking forward to seeing some of you soon!

The Winds of Change

If there's one constant in the nomadic life of a Naval officer and his family, it's change.  And....it's just about that time again.....MOVIN' TIME!  Many of you may already know that Josh has received orders from the Navy to leave Texas a little early.  So in September, we will be settling down in lovely Monterey, California, where Josh will attend the Naval Postgraduate School to receive a master's degree.  And that's it, he'll be getting paid to go to school for a year and a half!   We're so thankful for this opportunity for our family, and we'll be moving closer to Josh's mom's family in California and my family in Oregon. We are certainly sad to be leaving friends again, and even though we may move, we never "move on" from your friendships.

Naval Postgraduate School.  Yes, that's the Pacific Ocean in the background.

Josh will owe 3 more years to the Navy after completing his degree, so we will be nearing 15 years in the Navy by the time all is said and done.  If you will indulge my reflections as a Navy wife, there is nothing that makes you trust God more than the military.  We have heard countless stories from people who planned the perfect career, only to be discharged early because of an unexpected mishap.  Or those who caught a break and were promoted high above their wildest dreams.  People who spent their entire career in one port, and those who moved 15 times in 20 years.  People who were sent on assignments to the Middle East for a year with a week's preparation.  So we take this as another opportunity to trust our wise Father with our future.

And in other news....we'll be adding the newest member of our family sometime around November 20th!  We have absolutely loved being parents and we're very excited and happy to welcome another blessing and a sister or brother for Jackie.  My pregnancy has been uncomplicated like the first, although I definitely feel more tired without the ability to take naps anytime I'm home, but I feel much more at ease this time and happy to go through the discomforts of pregnancy knowing exactly how great my prize is going to be at the end. :)  There is no Naval hospital at Monterey, so I will be seeking out the most California granola hippy provider I can to deliver this baby......that's right, no epidural for me this time around (famous last words....).  After doing a lot of research and experiencing a medicated birth, I'm hoping to make this delivery more natural and a little less stressful than the last one.

Little one

I'm looking forward to seeing Jackie as a big sister, because she loooooooves babies.  Her three dolls are very important to her at the moment, and I will often come to get her after her nap to find her feeding her doll a snack or reading it a book.  She also enjoys giving them rides in her shopping cart, making tea parties for Josh and me, serenading us on the guitar or piano, spending time outside, playing with friends, and making us laugh.  I just enjoy her so much at this age.  Enjoy these pictures (we had a lot to catch up on!) and my favorite sayings and mispronunciations from Jackie:

• "What doing?"  (If I had a nickel for every time I hear this....two year olds are curious!!)
• "Cute" (This is what she says every time she watches a video of herself - no confidence problem here!)
• "I pway....I doing good!  A-MEN!" (This is the prayer she prays every night.  I have no idea what it means because Josh and I don't pray anything like this, but it's cute!)
• "I wuv you!"  (What parent doesn't love it when their kids get old enough to say this?!)

She loves painting!  At the library.

More library fun.  She is also VERY into pouring....

Selfie time!

We spent a lot of time going for walks before it got hot

Aunt Dixie came to visit!

Studying up

Collecting treasures

Gymboree

Happy Easter

Learning from the best 

When going for a walk in the rain, a tutu, trucker hat, and shopping cart are essential

Chillin

She read a book about hats, and now....

Gab is one of her favorite friends....note the matching side ponies

Loves Auntie Julia!

She kissed her fried pickle and then said "I wuv you!"

Daddy love!

A Brand New Year

I think my life has finally calmed down enough to get back to writing following our crazy December.  We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's with friends and had a fun party for Jackie's second birthday.  We're excited to share this milestone with everyone who has been an encouragement to us as we enter the twos and helped make our little toddler anything but terrible.

Such nice weather!

Say cheese!

Yes, our fall was very warm....be jealous!!

Recent accomplishments

• She is finally leaving the ground when she jumps!
• Stepping down or up a step without holding on to something
• Counting to 20 (okay, she forgets 16 every time...)
• Singing her alphabet
• When the need arises we can now put her down to nap at a friends house or in our (huge) walk-in closet on a sleeping bag and she will stay put.  However, we're still finding the crib to be pretty convenient...

Tea party with the best Dad ever!

And favorite activities

• Coloring - this girl is better at holding a pen than I am.  If prompted, she will tell you exactly what each little scribble on her paper is supposed to be.  She still shows signs of left-handedness, much to our chagrin.
• Peeling every single sticker off a sheet of stickers and putting them on her shirt.  This kept her busy for approximately 4 hours on our recent airplane trips.
• Going to the park.  Usually this entails Mommy pushing her on the swing for over an hour, but she really enjoys climbing and sliding too.
• Reading books - We usually go to the library once a week for story hour and check out several books.  However, her favorite book is still her Treasury of Curious George....sooooo tired of these stories......
• Helping Mommy - She loves to be around whenever I cook, do dishes, empty the dishwasher, sweep the floor, or fold laundry....and to be involved.  My hope is that if I let her in on it now, I'll have a well-trained helper by the time she's 16.
• Singing songs - We still continue to go to music class once a week, mostly because Jackie has enjoyed it so much.  She knows all the songs and participates so well.  She likes to listen to music in the car.  She is particularly obsessed right now with The Sound of Music and all the songs from the movie, which I am required to play on the piano for her at least once a day.  Other favorite songs include Happy Birthday and Jesus Loves the Little Children.  Josh and I have started directing the choir at church and she loves to hang out during our practices, singing along with the adults.
• Dancing - it's taken her a long time to warm up to this, but we have worked on it at home and in music class, and I'm told she rocked the dance floor at a recent Daddy Daughter Dance.
• Anything that involves hanging out with other kids.  So we do it as often as possible!

In heaven!

At the park with best friend Ian :)

Can you pick out Daddy, Mommy, and Jackie?

Reading with Uncle Don

How to Speak Jackanese (favorite words and phrases)

• "Ah gah it." ("I got it" - back off Mommy!)
• "Dackie" (This is what she calls herself)
• "Watch Seelella!" ("Watch Cinderella" - I hear this every. single. day.)
• "Joshair" ("Josh bear" - quick story - this beloved blue bear was the first present Josh ever gave me - before we were even dating.  When we had Jackie I planned to give her all the other stuffed animals and reserve this special one for myself.  As any parent can predict, this quickly became her favorite toy.)
• "Cake" (Another treasured toy - she has adopted a blanket with cupcakes on it as her special blanket despite Mommy's best efforts to keep her from having a "blankie")
• "No....go...to...bed!" (Pretty self-explanatory - we hear this a lot too.)  Variations: "No....go...home!" and "No....take...bath!"
• "Why not?" (You have to imagine her saying this one with a pronounced whine in her voice.  She uses it as a multi-purpose way to question Mommy's and Daddy's judgment in a variety of situations.)

My favorite things

• Our non-cuddler has gradually gotten more affectionate, and often will lay in Mommy's arms or give sweet kisses.  The one nice thing about sickness is it usually brings out the cuddle bug in her.
• Listening to Jackie sing to herself or along with us in her little high-pitched voice.  
• Finally, she is past the point of pushing and hitting friends constantly.  Instead, she enthusiastically gives (sometimes unwanted) hugs and likes to hold hands. :)
• Jackie really enjoys her Toddler Bible, and it's so fun to see a child's take on the stories.  She has picked up on how evil almost every king is, and will say, "No, King!" when they appear.  Jesus, however, is our "twoo king" (true king).  Her favorite characters are Eve and Esau at the moment, so...she knows how to pick some winners.  During the recent Christmas season, we talked frequently about Baby Jesus the true king, who was born in the barn and worshiped by uneducated shepherds...shocking and amazing, is it not?  We pray every day that the Holy Spirit will open up her little mind and heart to the truths that we are teaching now.

Future Naval officer?