Christmas!🎄

The Bucks all had a great Christmas this year! It was a little different since we recently moved and it was our first Christmas without either of our parents. I haven't spent Christmas with my parents in four years but yesterday was Nathaniel's first Christmas ever away from his family. We did get to spend the evening with my grandparents though! And it was very nice :) I'm glad to have some family nearby!

This year I didn't do Christmas cards--first year ever! I'm so ashamed. hahaha we did get several from family and friends and we love them! Thank you! We got to watch all our favorite Christmas movies and the Disney Christmas parade. We set up a tree and every day Caden rearranged the ornaments. He even broke a few (like seven). We didn't get snow on Christmas Day and it doesn't look like we'll get any for a while.

On Christmas Eve we ate homemade pizza and watched Muppets Christmas Carol (don't laugh! It's seriously one of my favorites!). After Caden went to bed we moved all the presents from the spare room to the living room and we had a present explosion! Nathaniel and I then watched The Grinch while we sipped hot chocolate and ate peanut butter cookies. 

Nathaniel read Luke 2 (the Christmas Story) to Caden and a couple of Christmas books on Christmas morning. We opened our stockings and had some yummy French toast for breakfast. And then we finally tore into that mountain of gifts!! Caden had so much fun :) Nathaniel and I got some good stuff too! We laid Caden down for a nap and he showed us that he's a big boy now...he crawled out of his crib. Three times. Our lives are over!! hahah so it looks like we'll be moving him into a toddler bed. I thought I had more time! Oh well. During his nap I prepared all the food and I successfully made my very first turkey! We had a great Christmas dinner with my grandparents and then all passed out after they went home. We had a wonderful Christmas!! :) 

The ball house was his first gift! He is in love with that thing!

Everyone got a clementine haha and Caden ate all three of them!

Cars eat at the table with us too :)

Nathaniel's Oregon blocks that I had made for him! It was a perfect surprise!

Big boy underwear! hahah it's almost time to potty train! Especially since he fills his diaper and then says "poop" over and over again.

Starting his mask collection already! 

Caden with some of his loot :) you can kinda see my pile next to him. I got a fabulous pair of brown boots, a bunch of adorable clothes, three candles, a calendar, and books!! 

Sticking his feet out the holes in the ball house hahaha he was cracking us up!

Straight from England. To die for!! Thanks mom and dad :)

I swear, Coke tastes better in this cup! Thanks mom!

My beautiful turkey! haha 

My grandpa carving that bad boy

Some of the Christmas spread :) sooo yummy!

So there are no pictures of me opening gifts! That's ok though. And there's only like two of Nathaniel opening gifts. It more fun to watch our son anyways! :) I also just realized that we didn't get a picture of all three of us or one of us with my grandparents! Darn pregnancy brain haha I can't remember anything anymore!  Speaking of pregnancy...I'm 20 weeks pregnant with a sweet baby GIRL!! But I'll blog about that later :) 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

We made it!! It's been a little rocky but at least we're here :)

So we made it to New Mexico. Our new base is Cannon AFB in Clovis, NM. It's a tiny little town where the wind never stops blowing and the cows never stop pooping. So all the wind and poop leaves a lovely scent waiting for us each time we open the door. I wish I was joking... 

Clovis isn't so bad. It really isn't and I'm not unhappy here, I just miss home. And since I had to leave home I wish I'd been compensated a little bit but we actually had more in AK than we do here. Every time I read something about AK I end up crying. I miss it all so much. But I really feel that a place is what you make it so I am trying my best to make this place home. I will do the same every time we move since that's what military folks do; we move, we start over, we make new friends, become familiar with new places, decorate new houses (the term "new" is used loosely, you'll see why in a moment), and then we move again. Sometimes it's not fun and it's never easy but that's what we do. But back to Clovis...so our short time here hasn't been the best so far. Not because of the place but because of the ridiculousness we've been through. I'll list all the incidents, just for you :) 

-the hospital is a huge pain. It was unbelievable what I had to go through just so I could get a referral for an OB. Five days of non stop phone calls and trips to the hospital and a new ID card before the hospital finally got everything figured out. I kept coming up under my dad's information instead of my husband's, despite the fact that we've been married almost four years and this is our second base. It's all worked out now.

-we stayed in TLF (temporary living facility) for ten miserable days. We stayed there instead of my grandparent's house because we figured we'd need to be close to the base (and with all the hospital nonsense it's a good thing we did). Lukewarm water with blasts of water straight from the Arctic and a heater that sometimes worked was what we dealt with. Super fun. 

-we were offered a house in the oldest housing area in the entire military. We took it because if we didn't we'd get the privilege of staying in TLF for who knows how long. Plus, the cost of rent here is more than our housing allowance and we wanted to be close to Nathaniel's work. We were given the keys on a Thursday but our stuff couldn't be delivered until the following Wednesday. I cried. 

-the house is OLD. It's spacious, but old. Here's what was wrong with it when we moved in: furnace was as moody as a teenage girl; hot water heater absolutely did not work; refrigerator smelled like 10,000 poopy diapers; tree roots grew into the drain pipes; doors and windows aren't sealed all the way and it gets pretty chilly. All those things have been either fixed or replaced (besides the doors and windows) but the housing office, the maintenance guys, and the people who lived here before us (I actually spoke with the woman who lived here last) knew about all these problems and just let them all go. They probably hoped we were too stupid to notice that there was no hot water, no heat, and a stench that could curdle witches' brew. 

-Caden figured out how to open "baby proof" items, like my prenatal vitamins. I accidentally left them out and he opened them. He ate half do one and chewed on four others. At first I freaked out but then I thought "it's just a vitamin right?" That's until I looked it up and saw that children most commonly overdose on iron so I immediately called the hospital. They acted like I was the most idiotic person alive because I didn't call poison control. So I called poison control and the guy was so sweet. Ramone from poison control, thank you for being so nice! Caden's perfectly fine. In order for him to be in any danger he would have had to consumed 22 vitamins. But it was still a little scary! 

-one last thing, the first maintenance guy to come to our house was the biggest jerk I've ever dealt with. He basically called us stupid for not knowing how to fix a broken water heater. Then he realized the whole darn thing had to be replaced. That's after he called for help from another guy. And we're stupid? 

I know that I'm just sitting here complaining and I'm sorry. And I know that all these things I'm complaining about aren't life or death or anything major, just stress causers. I just needed to tell someone. I've already told my parents and grandparents and don't really know anyone here so all of the facebook world gets to hear about my problems. But those problems are done and over with and it's off my chest so onto the positives of this new place! 

They have the world's only 2 Taco Boxes. Think Sonic has a good cherry vanilla coke? Think again! It's sooooo good there. There's a Hobby Lobby (yay!), a yummy Mexican place called Leal's, we're not too far from shopping and eating which is super exciting, I actually qualify for free shipping now since I'm not in AK anymore, my grandparents live here and I know they're loving us being here :) and we're able to drive to see my family instead of flying! This place will become home, just like any other place we end up will become home. I'm sad right now and that's ok. I have my best friend here with me (Nathaniel) and my little boy. I'm feeling the baby move more each day and that brings me so much joy. We're all healthy and safe, I have so much to be thankful for and so many reasons to be happy. And wherever we're together and we're happy (and even if we're not happy), well, then that place is home.