Birthday Prep!

Cecilia is turning 4 this year.

FOUR!

Where have the last 4 years gone?!

Ugh... she was SO tiny!!

So anyhow, that means we are planning her party.  Because we have never lived close to family and friends, we've never planned a big party for either kid.  Cecilia's first birthday was "big" for us, but that was because we lived 3 hours from my husband's family in Los Angeles and they drove down for it.  For her second birthday, it was just me and her while my husband was deployed and I was pregnant.  Her 3rd party, Daddy was home and Josh was here, plus we skyped with my parents so it was a bit more exciting.  We also took her to the big indoor playground out here and out for dinner.  Then for Josh's first birthday, we did the same as Cecilia's 3rd birthday, so it went just as well.

So we tend to stay pretty low key.

Because this is her 4th birthday and my parents are visiting just three weeks before her birthday, we decided to celebrate her birthday while they're here.  I'm a little superstitious about those things, but I think Cecilia will LOVE having her Grandma and Papa here during it.  She even asked if they would come to her party this year, so we just had to do it.

Our theme?

Tea Party.

She is OBSESSED with tea parties.  Like as I type this I have a toy teacup next to me and a plate full of pretend desserts.  I even had to pay her for this cup of tea this time.  How crazy adorable is she?

So we decided to do a tea party theme.  I'm even mailing the husband a pretend tea cup in his care package cause he should be able to Skype in during the party.

So here are some ideas we've come across so far:

Toy Ideas -- these will be FOR the party, not necessarily her gifts. Since we don't have to do gift bags, or lots of food, I think it's ok to have some extra "gifts" as part of the decorations.  Besides it's better than the decorations that end up in the trash IMO.

Food ideas!!  This is just as snippet -- Pinterest overload much :)

I think the party is going to come together SO WELL.  I cannot wait to start really planning, but I need to start making lists and figure how much food we really need/want to have, what decorations I want to do, etc.  I cannot wait.  I think she's going to absolutely love it.

I still need to figure out her gifts as well.  Not sure yet what to get her this year, plus we have to figure out a special gift sent from Daddy since he can't be here for it.  So we'll see!  But I'm getting my ducks in a row now so I can make her 4th birthday amazing!!

Deployment Blues

So our deployment is well underway.

My husband is in country and we are back home adjusting.  It's rough, exhausting, and we miss him terribly.  My kids are exhausting to say the least, but as the days go by either I'm getting better at managing them or they are calming down and getting use to it being just Mommy.  Or both perhaps?  Either way, life seems to be getting easier.

Our communication is so much better this deployment then the ones we've done in the past.  Our last 2 deployments, he was a on a ship.  This time it's much different in a good way.  I'm loving it and so thankful for it!

The past week I've been moping for lack of a better term.  I'm determined to not let the deployment get the best of me though and wanted to blog about the GOOD side of deployment.  There are many sucky, crappy parts of deployments and I could probably write pages on that issue.  However, what's the point in being negative and focusing on the negatives?  Nothing.  So lets try to focus on the positives!

Here are the things I consider to be the best parts of deployments:

• TV, TV, TV.  I actually get to catch up and watch all the shows I love, start new shows on Netflix, and enjoy my TV loving self!
• Time management.  Since I don't have to worry about making time to spend with my husband, it frees up time to sleep in and still workout later on.
• Money.  Obviously money is less tight during a deployment, so I'm able to splurge on an outing with the kids more often than when he's home.
• Dinner.  I cook for the kids and then eat whatever the heck I want.  He's been gone for almost two weeks and I've had breakfast for dinner 3 times already I think.
• Grocery shopping.  It's so much easier cause I don't meal plan and just buy whatever looks good.  Less work, quicker in and out, and still get yummy food.
• Me time.  I can take a bath every night if I want, I can paint my nails every other day, I can watch chick flicks every day if I wanted.  Not that I couldn't do all that while he's home, but I don't want to take away from our "us" time, but now it's just "me" time so I indulge more than I would when he's home.
• Less laundry.  Nuff said.
• Less dishes.  Same.
• Whole entire King Size bed to myself.  Which really means his side is storage for my laptop, iPad, and whatever books I was reading in bed.  I still sleep on my side, maybe shifted a little more inwards.
• Care Packages!  Oh the fun in planning and packing these!
• Not caring if I look cute around the house.
• The excitement when the phone rings, or when my email pops up and it's from him.  That feeling is amazing.

I'm sure there are more things I indulge in and enjoy while he's gone, but make no mistake -- I would trade ALL of that for having him home with us.  Life with him home is better than anytime spent apart. The best benefit of a deployment is how it truly makes me appreciate having him home and what he does around here.  We are counting the days, but glad to finally be on the count down rather than the prep before.

Let the time fly by!  And until he's home, I'll have to enjoy taking photos of us together like this: