Weekend 1 In Nor Cal

Now that we had made it safely back to California, it was time for Jake and I to hit the ground running.  We had a little less than two weeks in our home state and we were ready to make the most of it.

Ama had taken that Friday off work so we decided it would be the perfect time to head to the Zoo.  The Sacramento Zoo became Jake and my "place" while Daddy was away at "Soldier School" last year and we would make a visit almost every week.   It was such a special place for us, one that Jake still talks about all the time, so I was anxious to take him back there and relive some of those beautiful memories.  It made it even more special to return with Arthur's mom and two brothers.

 

 Jake had a wonderful time.  It was obvious that time had not faded his memory or love for the animals and even more importantly the family we had to leave behind.  There were very few moments when Jake's feet touched the ground as the loving arms of his Ama and two tios passed him back and forth.  From before he was born they have treated Jacob like a little prince, and this time was no different.  At one point I caught Jacob lovingly touching Tio Lui's face as he was carried from one exhibit to the next.  After watching them all that morning, there was no doubt that Jacob missed them just as much as they had missed him.

After the Zoo we headed to Pancho's, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in the world that is actually owned by Apa's sister and husband.  So not only did I get to eat way too much amazing food, but I also got to see several members of the family while we were there.  Unfortunately, Jacob was too worn out to really enjoy it, but I know Ama didn't mind having her grandson snuggle and fall asleep in her arms.

Friday evening was spent surrounded by Arthur's family and Aunt Robyn.  And for those of you who know Jake, he is always happy to be the center of attention.  So he kept us all laughing with his music styling and his sibling like behavior with his Aunt Robyn. What can I say, they did share a room for 5 months. :-)

Saturday was just as busy as Friday.  The day started with a swimming lesson for Jake with Aunt Robyn.   She was teaching her last three year old class, and Jake was the right skill level to join the other little girl in the class.

Robyn, of course, was great with him and true to Jacob style he said all kinds of ridiculous things to her.  But it was the big picture that I couldn't quite get over.  Having my baby take a lesson in the same pool where I taught for so many years, seeing him the same goggles that countless little eyes have looked back at me through, having him wait on those same steps, and hearing his sweet little voice give the same excuses that I have heard so many times I could never count;

it was a surreal moment in which I realized how much my life has changed.  I am now the Mommy sitting and taking pictures at the side of the pool and I love every second of it.

After a fabulous swimming lesson with tons of bubbles, floats, and up and unders, it was time for the three of us to head over to my beautiful friend Fiona's.

She had put together a little lunch in honor of the second Baby J.  To make it even better, Bethany drove from the Bay Area to be there.  Between the cute decorations, delicious food, and time with dear friends, it was a perfect afternoon of talking, laughing and catching up.  Thank you Fiona, Bethany, and Robyn.  You girls made me (and this new little baby) feel so special and loved.

Since it happened to be the weekend of the County Fair, our day was not yet complete.  After leaving Fiona's, it was time for Robyn, Jake and me to check out some live stock and fair food.  Jake, as expected, was captivated by all the animals.  I think we went through each area at least three times.

At first I would have said that his favorite animals were the cows, but that was before it came time to feed the pigs.  They got so loud and worked up that Jake couldn't take his eyes off them as they pushed and wrestled one another for the food. After and little while, Grandpa Dave met us there, and we spent a fun evening together listening to the mediocre live music and eating award winning tacos.

It was a fun filled day, and Jake was asleep before were out of the parking lot.

Of course, no trip home would be complete without going to church with your parents and letting them show off their grandson, so that is just what we did.

 

It was a wonderful weekend where Jake and I were able to reconnect and share so many fun experiences with the family and loved ones that we miss so much while we are in Alabama.  Luckily for us, this was still just the beginning of our trip.  Unfortunately, for Daddy this Sunday also marked his last day of "freedom" or communication with the outside world before the 0400 formation that started his 3 long weeks of SERE-C. The "longest three weeks on earth."

And so our trip began...

Today marks a week since our little family has been all back together.  As I'm sure can be gathered by the theme of this little blog, we kind of like each other and we really enjoy our time together so the three and a half weeks apart were hard on all of us.  Jake and I got the fun part of the separation.  We headed out to California for some quality time with family.  Arthur, on the other hand, was sentenced to a three week SERE training.  While he was one of three who finished the course with honors, I can honestly say that he had very little fun surviving, evading, resisting, or escaping so I will leave you with one quote that I believe summarizes Arthur's  feeling about his experience, "I would evade for one thousand years before I spent one day as a POW."

Moments after being released from SERE

Now on to California...

Arthur and I decided several months ago, that it would probably easier on Jake if Jake and I left Daddy rather than Daddy leaving us.  While it left Arthur home alone for a few extra days, we definitely made the right decision.  Jake did make it clear that he missed Daddy.  Whenever I caught him in a game of make believe the theme was always centered on some animal, car or tractor "looking for his Daddy."  And there were several nights (generally ones where he was up way too late after a full day of playing) where he would have a small melt down and start crying, "I just want to go home."  Other than that we had a great time and Jake was well distracted by all the love and attention he received during our trip. 

Of course no trip (that involves me) can begin without some sort of dramatic event, and this trip was no different.  Since we live very close to the middle of nowhere, we have to drive a few hours to get to an airport. So after getting up super early for our 10 o'clock flight, I was greatly disturbed to find the airport abandoned and hand written signs stating that the "Airport was Closed."  Immediately I burst into tears saying, "But I bought tickets."  Luckily, Arthur is a little more level headed than I am and calmly suggested that this must not be the correct airport.  Of course he was right and within minutes we were at our desired location saying our goodbyes and Jake and I were on our way.

 I would like to say that this was the end of the drama but that would be much too easy.  Our first layover was in Nashville.  Since we had a long wait we were excited to be in a place with live music.  It kept Jake and I entertained for nearly the entire time.  One musician loved Jake's enthusiasm for music so much that he dedicated a song to him and gave him a CD...a CD that was promptly thrown away after a few minutes of listening.  (The lesson learned: just because someone can do decent covers does not mean that have any talent for original songwriting).

We headed to our gate with plenty of time to spare.  Jake did get a little restless waiting and after taking off his shoes and socks, ran around a little and attempted to get everyone's attention and smiles.  He was pretty successful and I was only mildly embarrassed.

By the time we lined up to board, I was feeling very good about how our travels were going.  That is until I heard, "Jillian Orr, Jacob Orr this is your last call for boarding at gate C20."  C20 was of course the opposite side of the terminal.  Somehow in my rush to get Jake fed I hadn't noticed that Southwest had two flights heading to California within minutes of one another and I obviously had seen the wrong one.  Seriously, after a 3 hour layover we were going to miss our flight?  I grabbed Jacob and threw him on one hip and attempted to evenly disburse the weight of our three carry-ons around my body.  I had no choice but to make a run for it if we were going to have any chance of getting to the gate in time.  "Baby, I need you to hold on tight to Mommy," and with that we were off.  Somewhere in this decision making I had forgotten that I was 20 some odd weeks pregnant and that I haven't run in months, but there was no way we were missing this flight and hearing our names once again over the load speaker made me run even harder.  Like a scene from a movie just as our gate is coming into view, I saw a flight attendant closing the door.  Without thinking I start yelling from 50 yards away, "Wait!!! Wait!!  Jillian Orr and Jacob Orr are here!"  My throat was on fire, my legs were like lead, and I could feel my eyes begin to brim with tears.  I should have been embarrassed by the scene I was causing, but the thought of missing our flights and having to explain myself in order to board the next one was more than I could bare.  Then out of nowhere the pilot showed up.  "It's okay," he assured me as he unloaded me of my baggage, "We haven't even started the safety speech."  We found our seat and the rest of the trip went smoothly.  Better than smoothly actually.  Exausted from a late night (he was too excited to sleep), an early morning (he did not go back to sleep after being put in the car at 5am), and a day of traveling, Jake was asleep 10 minutes into the flight

...and he stayed asleep when the plane landed in Colorado...when people got off the plane...when new people got on the plane...when the plane took off again...

and through all but the last 30 minutes of our flight.  I think the people around us thought that I had drugged him.  My only real mistake, however, was that while I had bags of things to keep Jake entertained, I brought nothing for myself.
Without any other craziness we landed in Sacramento and were met by a very excited Ama and Tio Frankie.  They were a little taken aback by what a big boy Jake has become over the last 5 and half months, but he didn't hesitate running to them and giving them both long tight squeezes.  And so our trip began...

It's a...boy?!?!

That is exactly how I felt during my ultrasound last Monday as very clear little boy parts appeared on the flat screen monitor in front of me.  I had joked with my sister a few days before, that if they told me it was a boy, I would tell them to look again.  But even my untrained eyes couldn't deny his obvious gender, and I guess he was pretty sick of being referred to as a girl because those little knees were wide open. 

I had been so sure it was a girl...we all had.  This pregnancy has been so different than my first.  I felt sick all the time and I had strong food aversions among other physical symptoms that I never really experienced with Jake.  Not to mention how emotional I felt/feel with this baby.  I can cry at the drop of a hat, and I just assumed this was because my body was coursing with all sorts of extra estrogen from a baby girl.  Then you add how I was feeling to the fact that Jacob kept telling us we were having a girl.  It didn't matter how many times we asked him or how we phrased the question, for the last 4 months his answer has always been the same, "It's a girl"  Who argues with that?  Remember he did tell me I was having a baby before we told him.  He was right about that, so I just figured his little spirit remembered who was next in our family.  However, knowing Jacob, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the first joke of many that my boys are going to play on me.  And don't think Daddy won't join right in on that fun. :-)

To Arthur's credit, a few weeks before the ultra sound, he did have a dream about our new little boy very similar to the one he had had with Jacob.  However, even that wasn't enough to sway us from believing Jacob.  We just figured Arthur's subconscious was playing the "what if" game.  But we should have known better, Arthur's dreams always come true.

The funny part is that people have misinterpreted my insistence that was a girl for some great longing for a girl.  So many of our family and friend have asked if I am sad or upset that I am having another boy.  I am the opposite actually.  I am ecstatic to have another boy!  Having Jacob has been the best thing that has ever happened to us, how was we be anything but excited to do it again?  I love the idea of Jake and his brother growing up together (not to mention the money we will save by reusing all of the cute clothes we got for Jake) and I hope and pray that they will be the kind of friends my sister and I have been throughout our lives. 

They already look like brothers!  Baby Boy #2 on the top, Jake's 18 week ultrasound on the bottom...I could look at these profiles all day!

Arthur is also trilled to have another son.  Due to his training, he was unable to come to the ultra sound with Jake and I.  So after my appointment I went to store to enlarge some of the photos and bought a blue gift bag to put them in.  When I arrived home, he was already there and dying to find out.  As I handed him the bag I said, "I guess I will be staying home by myself while you boys go hunting."  No man has ever smiled so big. 

A Day in Destin

Since Jake was born we have been blessed, and maybe even a little spoiled with how much time we have been able to spend as a family.  Even being in the army gave us almost 4 months of nearly 24 hour 7 day a week time.  However, since Arthur has started training again this past June, we have all had to transition Daddy being away during the days.  We are all excited to be back on track and getting closer to when Arthur will finally get to fly again, but needless to say we really miss all that "family time."  So this past weekend we decided it was time to take an overdue trip to beautiful Destin beach for some quality time...just the three (and a half) of us.

It was an awesome day!  The last time we visited Destin was during Aunt Robyn's visit back in May, and Jake had no interest in even putting his feet in the water.  So this trip we made sure to come fully equipped with a bucket full of sand toys with the expectation that Jake would not be leaving the beach (at least not willingly).  However, I was pleasantly surprised when, after just minutes, Jake asked me to take him to follow Daddy into the water.  I guess our trips to the pool have really paid off.  That and Jacob has really grown up this summer.  He is a little less cautious and has much more confidence trying new things and doing things by himself. 




While Jacob did great, as a California girl, there are several things about the Florida Gulf that I had to adjust to during this trip.  

First, the water is crazy warm which would amazing except that this appears to provide the perfect environment for green algae...lots and lots of thick green algae.   Second, it is strange to be the ocean and not have any real waves.  While I missed that amazing sound of crashing waves, the calm water does make playing in the water with a toddler much easier.  Finally, after spending time along many of California beaches all along the coast I cannot recall many times when the temperature has exceeded 90 degrees and even then the heat is usually accompanied by a nice coastal breeze.  Nope, no coastal breezes here...just 100 degree hot sticky air.  Nonetheless, I shouldn't complain, we had such a great time playing in the ocean as a family and a little (or a lot) of algae wasn't going to ruin our fun.                                 

However, even with our trips into the water and our frequent water breaks, Arthur and I were ready to get out of the sun after about an hour and half.   

Jake on the other hand, would have stayed and played in the sand all day, but his flushed cheeks were tell tale sign that his little body was also ready for air conditioned climates.  

Destin is a vacation town so we had no trouble finding thing to fill the rest of our afternoon.  We made a stop at Bass Pro shop for the boys.  Arthur left with a hat, and Jake left with a shirt, a fishing pole, and a bag of licorice.  We don't mean to spoil him...it just happens.  Then after an overpriced lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, it was time for some sale shopping at the outlet mall.  I can't pass up a trip to Oshkosh.  If your look at our pictures closely, you will notice it is all Jake wears.  Luckily for our bank account, we did not yet know the gender of Baby #2, but I had no trouble finding some cute things for Jake.  We ended with trip at the Stride Rite outlet, where both Jake and Arthur walked out in a pair of new shoes.  As you read this you might be asking yourself, "Mom, what did you get?"  My answer, a perfect day with my two favorite people and a really quite drive home.  I love family days.

A Great Day in L.A.

As you read this title you may be thinking to yourself, "The Orr's back in California?"  No Los Angeles for us...now we are talking L.A. as in Lower Alabama.  I am not going to lie, most Saturdays I wake up and wonder, "What the heck are we going to do to day?"  By Saturday I am looking for a change from Jake and my "normal" routine, but it easier said then done.  By nine it is usually too hot and humid to go outside, it can even be too much to go swimming and who knew that was possible?  The beach is beautiful, but the 3 to 4 hour round trip is not something we can do every week.  And since we have a toddler, staying inside watching reruns of NCIS or Criminal Minds is also out of the question.  Needless to say, our whole family (especially Arthur) were excited when the Kimber's invited us to a place they call Shark Tooth Creek.

As far as I know, this place is not on any map and although it is only 45 minutes from our house there is no way I could find it again.  I think its seclusion is part of it magic.  It was like entering a tropical paradise as we made our way down the hillside to the base of small waterfall that feeds the cool clear creek.  The sound of falling water and the canopy of branches and vines protecting us from the Alabama heat made a beautiful backdrop for a morning of "excavating" and memory making.  A big thank you to the Kimber's for sharing your special spot with us, we had a great time!

A perfect 2 year old hike to the waterfall

Making our way down stream

Katie showing Jake one of the fossilized shark teeth that she found.  She's a teacher (can't you tell?) and one of Jake's (and our) favorite people out here.  

Jake walking back with the boys.  We love spending time with the Kimber's, and it makes it so much better that they love Jacob.

Jake playing in the water downstream.  It is moments like this, when the independent little boy he is becoming is so apparent, that I hold my breath and wait to become melancholy or nostalgic about the baby he use to be.  But I don't.  Instead I am just happy and excited as I watch him learn and grow.

As if stomping around in water and finding fossilized shark teeth wasn't enough, that was not the end to our awesome day.  After hamburgers and naps, we were off for an evening of extreme bowling with our best friends here, the Kimber's (they hadn't had enough of us) and the Moody's.  It was Jake's first time bowling and my first time in nearly 10 years.  But even with our lack of experience, we had a great time.  Arthur even helped me improve my game.  On my second game I scored a 98.  That may not sound like much, but after a game of gutter balls, I was pretty excited.

Jake's independent self was in full force.  After Arthur showed him what to do one time, Jake wanted no further assistance from either of us.  He would go pick up his ball and carry it over to the dragon slide.  After pushing is down the dragon, he would stand at the end of his lane and yell, "Go! Go! Go!" as his ball rolled toward the pins.  The best part was that it didn't matter to him whether he hit one pin or all 10.  He was just enjoying the experience.

When he it wasn't his turn, he would lean against the beam next to our lane as Talen, Michelle and Sean's son went.  He also enjoyed sliding around and dancing to the 90's music in his sweet bowling shoes.  He had some pretty awesome moves in those shoes.

As for me, I was just grateful for a fun family night out and that we got through the evening without Jake dropping one of the heavy bowling balls he kept trying to pick up onto his foot.  Simple blessings right?

All in all it was a great weekend and for old times sake I feel like I should ask, "So, what's next?"

Fabulous Fourth! Family, Friends and Freedom

I had never realized what a holiday of traditions the 4th of July is for people.  Talking with all our new friends here, each of them had a unique tradition "back at home" that they were sad to be missing.  While we do not do the exact same thing every year, Arthur and I are not completely excluded from this.  Since we started dating we have spent at least part of the holiday in Tahoe.  While I know we both missed the family and friends we see when we are there, not to mention the incredible Tahoe weather, we were both excited to start some new family traditions that we can move with us and share with our children wherever the years take us.

Tradition #1: Jake and Daddy buying and setting off fireworks together.  This will obviously be effected by where we live and what is legal, but both of them had too much fun to not do whenever possible.  Jake liked the dragon snaps the best.
Note 1: Everything is legal here
Note 2: Fire works have a way of turning grown men into 8 year old boys while making Mommies very nervous and jumpy (I did make Arthur promise that everyone would end the evening with all the limbs and digits they started it with).

Tradition #2: Mommy taking lots of pictures of Jake (and future children) in cute red, white, and blue outfits doing what I like to call "All American" activities.

Tradition #3: Freedom Fest (the post sponsored celebration)

Since Ft Rucker is the home of Army Aviation, helicopters were brought out for public enjoyment.  Jake thought is was a really great idea.

The old fashion firetruck was also a big hit...

for both my boys.

Tradition #4: Spending time as a family surrounded by good friends, food, and fireworks to celebrate our freedom.  Now we understand first hand that freedom really isn't free.  

However, the Independence Day tradition that I want to pass along above anything else is love for their country, gratitude to the men and women who sacrifice to keep us free, and pride for their father who is now among them.  

Reflecting on the day I can say that there was something extra special about the Fourth for me this year.  I have always been a very patriotic person, but celebrating on Army post surrounded by other soldiers and their families magnified the feelings of pride and gratitude I have for the men and women who have sacrificed so much to keep this country free.  Throughout the evening there was a feeling in the air, one I have never felt at a 4th of July event, and you could just feel that you were surrounded by proud Americans.  These people were not just here for the food or the fireworks, they were here to celebrate this amazing country that we live in.  The live music was great, the speeches where moving, and sitting on our blanket with our friend I couldn't help but realize that Independence Day will never be the same for any of us again.

Here is a poem that was read that night.  I thought it was beautiful and was worth sharing:

It is the Soldier, not the minister

Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer

Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician

Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,

Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Charles Michael Province, U.S. Army