6 MONTHS!!!

s0o0o0o0o, it's been a long time since i've been on here. much needed updates...

ava marie has gone through so many stages...

held her head alone at 1-2 months

rolled over at 2 months

she smiled at 2-3 months old

laughed at 3 months

grabbed for things around 5 months

crawled at 5 months

peek-a-boo at 5 months

started reaching up when she wanted to be held

started pulling herself up at 5-6 months

sat up alone at 6 months

had her first taste of apple juice at 6 months

first taste of baby food at 6 months

we also think she's picked up the word "heeeeyyyy", due to daddy and grandpa both saying that as soon as they walk in. she has gotten SUCH a personality as the time goes by.

i've also been blessed with friends and family passing down clothing. i think i can count on two hands the number of outfits i've actually bought so far.. which is AMAZING!!! i still have huge boxes to go through that shes not able to fit into yet.

i'm super excited for my sister-in-law, who's about to have her first and i cant wait to meet him! (or her, being as we havent actually met in person yet :0) !!! ) i'll be visiting her along with my mama-in-law in april. stooked!!

andrew has been working 10/7's and just moved up to 12/7's, but he tries his hardest to spend time with us when he gets home without passing out. we miss him, but it wont be those hours much longer and i'm sure we'll love the paycheck.

well, hopefully i'll be writing more often now... i'll keep ya posted!!

snail mail

i just want to start by saying *andrew is coming home next week!* the guys are supposed to start their trip home tomorrow! i'm so excited and happy they're all getting back safely... and we'll always remember the ones that did not. our fallen heroes.

but moving on to a lighter note, i got mail today... and it was a lot. a few of the guys went ahead and mailed their "trunks" (all their stuff) here to our house until they figure out whether they're going to stay on base or not. so i got two big trunks today. it just gave me an awesome reality check that they're not far from home. all i could do was smile! but the two that arrived are only from one of the guys so i have a lot more to look forward to! and then to top it off, i got some snail mail from kath. a cute little card, but it meant the world... i love getting little "thinking of you" things. it gives me a boost. thank you kath, i loved it!

so today i cleaned. not a whole lot, but it's a work in progress. i have to have it done before andrew gets home of course, so i better get crackin'. also, the wives make posters to take when the guys arrive and i'm trying to think of something clever to put on mine... let me know if you have any ideas.

last night was awesome, i loved hanging out with the girls! i'm so happy we all get along so well, i was getting scared there for a minute about actually making friends here. but they're hilarious! and of course the gamecocks won! so that just made the night that much better! i headed home around 12am. of course i have insomnia, so i finally took at nap at 9am, woke up at 12pm. hopefully i will crash tonight and get back on schedule.

i'll keep this one short today, not really too much to tell. i'm going to go throw together something to call dinner and hit the hay!

have a good night!