5 Years Stronger, 5 Years more in love

It's hard to believe that I have been living my happily ever after for 5 years. In the last 5 years we have had our ups, the birth of 3 beautiful kids, the welcome homes from deployments, and the beginning of our lives as civilians. We have had our downs, the see you soon's, hubby missing the birth of 2 of our kids, and ptsd. Through it all we have had the most important thing, eachother. I would not want to be going through this life with any other person. Roland truly is the other half to make me whole, he is strong where I am weak, he knows how to make me laugh and he is there for me like no man has ever been. He is the most amazing father to our 3 beautiful kids and I treasure those precious daddy moments I get the honor to witness. I pray that our marriage continues to grow and thrive and I look forward to all that God has planned for us as a couple. 

Photography was done by Alyse Chernovol of Forever and Always Photo.

She is very good at what she does and has reasonable rates,

 here is her website if anyone living in our area would 

to check her out. 

8 months old

Zeddrick is 8 months old. I know the time goes quickly but I think with him being baby #3 it is going faster than it did with the other 2. 

 Not to much has changed from last month as far as what he is doing. 

• He is did not get any more teeth this month but the top lateral incisors look like they are going to be coming through very soon. 
• He is moving into size 9-12 months clothes, some 6-9 month still fit him but not much.
• He is still in size 3 disposable diapers when we use them and on his cloth diapers I have moved to the bottom snaps so about a medium size fit. 
• He is nursing about every 4 hours or so during the day and waking up every 2-3 times at night. 
• He is finally eating baby food but only from a pouch. 
• He is even more vocal then he was if that is possible, he will let you know when he needs something for sure or when his sisters are being mean to him. 
• He is still crawling around and cruising on the furniture. He has stood unassisted for a few seconds a handful of times so I'm sure he will be walking before we know it. 
• He is giving kisses! Usually to just me but he'll make a kissing noise and then lean into me, it's so precious!

We are loving every moment that this little guys is a part of our lives and life just wouldn't be the same without him. I think God everyday for each one of my little blessings and for allowing me to be their mommy.

He is all boy for sure, he finds some of the only dirt at the park and starts to eat that and the sticks.

Our Post Marine Corps Life

God is good all the time!

Life after the Marine Corps has been a struggle in many ways, some of these things we knew and were as prepared as possible and some things we never seen coming. Life after the Marine Corps has also been wonderful and a blessing in many ways.

So many people have asked us why we choose to be done with it, well we did not choose it and we did not want it. Although life in the military has it's many ups and downs we did enjoy being a military family and we did like the benefits that came with it especially in this economy. Let me just give a little bit of the history as to what happened in our road to bring us to no longer being in the Marine Corps.

I think the story really begins back when Roland was still in Afghanistan in 2011. While he was there he was actively trying to get his 4 year re-enlistment in (this was while a 4 year was still possible) and trying to put in a packet to do recruiting so he could have his B-billet. Although the career planner that was over there with him basically kept screwing him around and Roland just doesn't really push people to get what he wants well so he did not get stuff done while there. They got back in December 2011 from Afghanistan and all went on leave, by the time they got back it was January 2012 and the new Marine Corps order came out. This order, in short, does not allow a Marine to re-enlist for more then 2 years after his 8 year mark, they have to make SSgt by 10 years to be able to re-enlist another 2 years and so on. (I am not sure how long the 2 year only re-enlistment goes but that is not important for my story.) So now Roland was putting in for his 2 year re-enlistment and was still trying to get in his recruiting packet in. Along with signing up for as much training as possible to make it clear to those in his chain of command he is driven as a Marine. Well he got his 2 year re-enlistment approved and he also got put on a training that would be in NC for a month in April 2012. He wanted to do his ceremony for the re-enlistment in NC so that the girls and I could be there since we planned on going and staying with friends there so we could be with Roland for this month. I on the other hand told Roland I would rather he just do his ceremony in CA so we knew we had the 2 year locked in and could breath easy (for those who don't know you have to do the ceremony in a certain amount of time before the approved re-enlistment is no good). I let Roland decide in the end where to do his ceremony so he chose to do it in NC, he began talking to the career planner there to work out all the details Well in short Roland tried to get a hold of the career planner in NC and was not able to for his ceremony even though he talked to her before he got there to make sure everything would work out. So in short he was not able to do the ceremony while in NC and by the time he got back to CA he could no longer do this, his only chose at this point was to put in for an extension. He did not put in for the extension right away because he was thinking about things more talking to people about what he could do at this point. Roland put in the paper work for his extension in Sept 2012, by that time his entire chain of command had changed, most of these people did not know Roland at all or very little. After a few months (December 2012) Roland was told that his extension would most likely not be approved, we were in shock to say the least. Neither one of us seen this coming at all, we thought that because Roland had just had a 2 year re-enlistment approved that this would get approved as well with no issues. This all meant Roland would be discharged at the end of February 2013, something we were far from prepared for. We did not officially find out Roland's extension was not approved until the end of January 2013 so that only gave us a month to get a LOT of stuff done and taken care of. His command ended up giving us a 30 day extension to give us time to get some thing taken care of since we just had a baby and everything that moved Roland's new EAS date to March 27, 2013. 

So our post Military life began on March 28, 2013.

The movers came and packed us all up and we moved back to Ohio to be near family and live with my parents until we figured out what we would do next. So as of right now we are still living with my parents, Roland is trying to get his PTSD and other medical stuff with the VA taken care of while apply for jobs and going to college part time. I am currently going to college part time and trying to find a part time job for some extra income so we are able to find a place of our own in the Defiance Area. 

Before Roland even put in the paper work for his extension we had talked very little about it not getting approved, something we were sure would not happen. I had told him then that if it didn't get approved then God had different plans for our lives and that the military was not in that plan for us. I still believe that today, I know with all my heart that God brought us back to Ohio for a reason although I do not know what that plan is at the moment I am confident that we are where we are suppose to be. After so much prayer and talking as a couple we decided it was time for me to stop putting college on hold and go for it. I have put all my faith in God to help us through the college years even if that means not going more then part time at least I am one step closer to that. Roland is still not sure what he wants to go to college for but wanted to give it a try and make sure he can handle it while having a family, a job and PTSD. So for now that is where everything in our lives stand and I am very hopeful for our future because I know that no matter what God is in control of it all. 

7 Months Old!

All I can say is thank you Lord for blessing me with this little piece of heaven. This little boys smile is one of the best things in life, he can turn my bad days to happiness with one little smile. I know God gave him to us to bring us happiness and hope in the midst of all our current struggles. He is always giggling and happy, he is constantly challenging me to look at things differently and he is only 7 months old!

There are lots of changes this month in what Zeddrick is doing, I'm amazed at how much he has learned in one short month.

• He is still in 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers when he wears disposables.
• He now has 4 TEETH, 2 on top and 2 on bottom.
• He is pulling himself up to standing position and he is cruising.
• He is finally starting to like food, he eats cereal twice a day now, in the morning and in the evening. We are going to start trying baby food this month sometime. 
• He is still getting up multiple times a night, I think it is because he's teething, but nothing I do seems to help so he has become my night time cuddle buddy.
• He loves to play with everything and anything and plays best when his sisters leave him alone. 
• He is a super fast crawler, he can make it from one side of the house to the other in no time at all. 
• He does not like to be away from mom if he can't see me he comes looking for me. 

This last month Zeddrick was dedicated at church. He was such a ham while we were up there just smiling and giggling at Pastor Rick. 

Looking handsome for his dedication.

1/2 year old

Wow baby boy these 6 months have just flown by much too fast. I can not believe you are already a 1/2 year old, I think you should slow down on this growing thing. If only it were that easy to slow things down, guess I just need to take a billion more pictures than I already have and savor every single cuddle moment I have with you.

• Zedd is in 6-9 month clothes still
• He is 17 lbs 7 oz and 26 inches long, that is just over the 50th percentile in both
• He is crawling all over the place and getting into everything you can possibly find
• He is grabbing onto things like he is thinking about pulling himself up but he hasn't tried yet
• Zedd is giving mommy kisses when I ask for them and even when I don't
• He is a very vocal little guy, I so hope screaming does not stay around for long
• He is suddenly getting up like 3 times a night and just wanting to play sometimes
• Zeddrick is chewing on everything and slobbering like crazy but still no teeth
• We have started to give him baby food and so far he doesn't seem to care for any of it much at all

5 months

Zeddrick is growing and learning so much these days. I keep telling him he needs to slow down but he just doesn't listen. He's in a hurry so he can keep up with his sisters I am sure. 

• He is in 6-9 month clothes
• He is wearing size 3 diapers, that is when he's in disposables
• He is trying so hard to crawl but he mostly goes backwards, when he does go forward he looks like a little inch worm 
• He really enjoys playing with his toys
• He is chewing on everything he can get his hands on and slobbering like crazy
• He is finally going more than 2 hours between feedings and only getting up a couple times a night
• He is a very vocal little boy, constantly talking and jabbering to everyone. 
• He is eating about 2 Tbsp of cereal a night, another month and he'll get veggies and fruits

He's trying so hard to crawl

His big sister loves him so much

4 months old

These 4 months with our little guy have gone by much to quickly. 
He is getting so big so fast. He is jabbering at us all the time.
He loves it when his sisters play with him and give him hugs and kisses.

• He is in 6-9 month clothes, he was only in 3-6 for about a month!
• He is in cloth diapers all the time now and seems to love them, at least mommy does. 
• He is still wanting to nurse every 2 hours most of the time and once in a while will make it to 3 hours. 
• He is only nursing about 2 times a night now so I'm getting more sleep. 
• He loves having play time in his car walker, exersaucer, and jumperoo. He also loves to play with his feet and is enjoying tummy time. 

3 months

We are back in Ohio now, it's nice to be near family and Zeddrick is loving all the cuddles, hugs and kisses he is getting from all his family meeting him. But unfortunately I was not able to get nice picture of him this month due to all the moving around but here are some I got with my iPhone. 

• He is now in 3-6 month clothes 
• He finally fits into the cloth diapers for the  most part, he seems to be doing well in them. 
• He is smiling at mommy, daddy and the girls all the time. 
• He is drooling like a little fountain, the girls never did so this is new for me.

Time to take control of my time!

As I was sitting on the couch about 2 weeks ago I was looking at the clock, I was feeling like time was ruling my life. I decided at that moment that I was not going to be ruled by time any longer. I was going to stop just getting through each day and take hold of each day making the absolute most of it. I want to be a great wife and mom to my family and right now I don't feel like I am.

So I started my new routine about 2 or so weeks ago and I am proud to say for the most part I have stuck to it. I will try to go to bed every night by 11 but start winding down at 10, then wake up in the morning between 6 and 6:30. This will give me about an hour to hour and half in the morning to myself. To get a cup of coffee, have time with God and make breakfast all before the girls get up. By doing this I can get a nice jump on the day and feel like I am in control of what happens. 

Since I have started doing this I just feel so much better, happier then I had been feeling. I feel more awake when the girls get up and more able to get them ready so we can get things done or just do something fun that day. I feel like having a routine like this in place will help me grow more in my relationship with God (which I'm sad to say has really taken a back seat since having kids, and it makes me so sad), it will help me feel more in control when we are back in Ohio and I have a job on top of all the responsibility of being a mom and wife, and it will give my life a bit more structure, which it has lacked for some time now. 

Ultimately I am so happy I have made these small changes in my life, there are still plenty I want to change and do but I want to start small. Make one or two things a habit and then once I have those things down without thinking about it move on to a new goal of something else I want to change. All I ask is for prayer and encouragement to help me become the best wife, mom, daughter, sister and friend I can be, that is all I want. 

2 months old

Zeddrick is now 2 months old, life is very different with 3 kids but we are adjusting well. I love my 3 little babies very much and wouldn't trade them for anything. 

Zedd now weighs 12 lbs 12 oz (62 percentile), is 23 in long (70 percentile) and his head is 16 in in diameter (99 percentile). Yup little man had a big head, lol, bigger brain for a smarter boy!

He is still in size 1 diapers, his legs are to small for the cloth diapers still :(

He is in 0-3 month clothes and some are still to big on him. 

I'm so happy he is finally only getting up once or twice a night for a feeding, that's not counting his feeding right before bed and the early morning one. Although during the day he is still eating every 2 hours almost down to the minute. I'm still having pain when nursing him but I'm determined to keep nursing him and I will do whatever it takes to make that happen. I'm going to see at my appointment on Wednesday if they can up the dosage of the med they put me on to see if that helps more if not I will have to consider other options. The only down side to the med I'm on is it makes Zedd spit up a lot after every feeding and it has made him much more fussy then he use to be. 

He is still a momma's boy and is always wanting held and cuddled by mommy, of course I'm completely ok with this. 

He isn't really much into tummy time anymore but he still gets it several times a day, he loves be held in a standing position and puts weight on his legs. His head control is very good and in no time at all he will be able to sit in his bumbo for longer then a few minutes and play in his exersaucer. He is reaching out at objects and smiles and laughs at his reflection and mobiles. 

He loves to be talked to by everyone and just smiles and laughs, the girls love to talk to him and help as much as they can. 

Roland is an awesome daddy with all of the kids and I'm so glad he is here to help out. He always changes Zedd in the early morning for me and puts him back down so I can get another hour or so of sleep. He's been such a help with the girls keeping them happy and playing with them even more since I'm so busy with Zedd and doing other things when he is home from work. He lets me sleep in every weekend, since getting up at 8 with the girls is sleeping in for him, lol. 

I'm loving my little family of 5 and cherishing every moment we have together!

He really enjoys his play mate! 

First time in the bumbo