Hydie Turns 1!

I can't believe my little Hydie Bug is already a year old! It seems like yesterday I was flying back to Mississippi to prepare for her arrival. She is such a blessing and I thank God every day that He blessed John and I with such a perfect little girl! Hydie is officially 21 lbs. and 30 inches long. She is standing alone quite a bit more now and I am thinking any day she will be taking those first steps. She has become such a beautiful LITTLE GIRL. John is finally giving me permission to say she is a little girl now instead of a baby. She definitely has her daddy wrapped around her little finger.
We had a very successful first birthday party! Hydie loved her cake and ice cream! She was too cute eating the polka dots off one by one. We can't thank everyone enough for all the gifts and helping with the party! She received so many fun toys, books, and well needed clothes! John and I bought Hydie a bounce house to play in during the long winters here. So all the kiddos had tons of fun jumping and playing in the ball pit. Well, John will be leaving again soon. We are very sad to have to say goodbye again (and this time it will be a pretty long goodbye) but we will make it through. To break up the time, Hydie and I will be coming to Mississippi for a few months visiting.

Christmas with Daddy

With John's work schedule this year, he won't be with Hydie and I for Thanksgiving or Christmas so we decided to do Christmas today. Since it is SO early in the season and we are having Hydie's birthday party here next weekend, I chose not to go all out and put up my normal Christmas decorations and such so we bought the little tree at the exchange yesterday that worked just fine. John and I had already done our gifts earlier this week so this morning was really all about Hydie. John got a new gun to shoot rabbits...he was like a little kid in a candy store the day we bought it...and I got a new cell phone (blackberry curve) so I can email with John while he's on the boat. I have been wanting a new phone for a long time and was thrilled to get a blackberry! Now for Hydie, Santa brought her a wagon and a Kelty Kids backpack carrier for she and John to go fishing this next summer. John and I got her a vsmile baby game system and games, blocks, a ball (her FAVORITE toy), and some books. She had so much fun opening the gifts and playing with everything. After opening gifts, we had the traditional breakfast casserole and waffles for breakfast. This was Hydie's first experience with breakfast casserole and she seem to really enjoy it! We will be doing "thanksgiving dinner" tomorrow. We will see how Hydie likes turkey and dressing!

Our Crazy Life!

We have had a very busy schedule the past few weeks. Let me start off with a review of the past weeks. Hydie is officially standing! We have just begun our journey with using cloth diapers because Hydie is allergic to disposable. John got home this past week! I have been so far into textbooks I can't even see straight. So now you are caught up on our crazy lives! Hydie is growing more and more each day and is almost too tall for 12 month pants! When we went to the doctor the other day she measured in at 30 inches long and 20 lbs. My baby is becoming a little girl...:( Speaking of her growing up, we will be celebrating Hydie's 1st birthday this next week (11/6). We are so blessed to have such a beautiful little girl! John will only be in port for a few short weeks and then we won't see him until March. So forgive me if I don't update again for a few weeks but family is of most importance. We are taking Hydie to the Kodiak Bible Chapel for Halloween fun tomorrow night and then Saturday morning we are having our "family" Christmas. Yes, this means I will be putting up my tree in the wee hours Friday night. We are having to do Christmas so early because like many other military families, we have to work around the duties of the Coast Guard and that means John won't be with us during Christmas so we get to have it a little early. Hydie and I will actually be in Mississippi from December 12th through February 26th. So if you want to see us just let me know! I am getting very excited about our trip; however, I am also becoming very nervous about flying for 24 hours straight with a 1 year old that is into EVERYTHING but we will make it. Well, hope you enjoy the updated pictures!

Bowling!

Hydie and I enjoyed our night out with some friends at the bowling alley on base! It was our friends Stephanie and Eric's little girl Samantha's birthday. We had so much fun! Hydie had a blast being of course center of attention! She even got to bowl!!! She was too funny!! She didn't want to let the ball go. I didn't do so bad myself but of course I didn't hit 100 but I did get one strike! Here are a few pictures of our bowling experience! By the way, Hydie had cheetos while bowling tonight!

Updates!

Since I haven't posted in a while (sorry about that) I thought it would be a good time for me to give ya'll a few updates! John is on his first patrol on the CGC Alex Haley. He will be home sometime around Hydie's birthday. We miss John tons but are so thankful for email and cell phones! I have actually gotten to speak with him over the phone twice since they left. It gives me goose bumps every time I hear his voice! Hydie is growing like a weed! She is almost walking and is getting into everything! She is saying a few words now. She says Dadda and Bubba on a very regular basis. We are guess that she is getting Bubba from my friend Jana's little boy because we call him Bubba. That's what we are saying anyways! Hydie also has 4 teeth coming in all at once on the top. Can we say orajel??? I am still taking 13 hours of college classes this semester and I just quit my job at Coastline Computers. My last day was yesterday. It was sad to leave but I had become very overwelmed by working full time, school full time and full time Mommy AND Daddy! To say the least I have been quite stressed the past couple weeks and everyone around me could tell! However, today was my first day back to being a stay at home mom and I loved every minute of it! Yes, I still have tons to catch up on but it will get done! Hydie and I are planning our trip back home for Christmas. Since I am not working anymore and will only be taking online classes next semester, I have decided to not just come home for Christmas but from Christmas until sometime in February! We are so excited that we are going to be able to visit family and actually get to spend time with everyone unlike our other trips where we were running around like crazy!

Baby Soup!

This weekend we had tons of fun! Saturday it rained pretty much all day so we just hung out and had lots of family time. Sunday Hydie and I went to Jana's to sew and John went fishing. Well, we didn't get much sewing done but we did find a place that would keep Hydie still for a couple minutes! She sat in this pot on the floor for a good 20 minutes just playing. She LOVES to help cook and pots and pans are her all time favorite toy! Hydie is getting another tooth so we are doing lots of teething...She loves "otter pops" the little popcicles that are in the clear plastic....she just chews on the plastic until the popcicle isn't cold anymore! She is eating pretty much everything now...Sunday morning she ate an entire waffle plus some scrabbled eggs and a handful of cherrios. She is pulling up on everything and walking holding onto everything. She is also really quick and sneaky! I have NO idea where she gets the sneakiness from.... I am going back to college this year to finish up my associates degree to be ready for nursing school when we move. I am a little nervous about getting back into the studying groove but I'm sure I will do fine. I start next Tuesday the 2nd and my first class is Anatomy and Physiology!!! John is getting ready to go out on his first real patrol sometime next month. We are both a little anxious to get this patrol behind us. The first patrol is always the hardest!

Why Buy Toys?

Why do we bother buying toys for Hydie? Lately, she has no interest in "toys" but she really seems to enjoy the cat toys, door stopper, laundry hamper, and plastic bowls. Hydie is now pulling up alot more, and today she push on the laundry basket to walk. She is too cute! This weekend we did alot of cleaning out and organizing. It feels so great to have an organized home! Hydie has started really enjoying when Mommy is cooking or cleaning the dishes because that means she gets to play with the pots and pans or tupperware. She thinks it's the coolest thing for me to put cheerios in a container so she can shake it and try to figure out how to get the treats out. Hydiebug is definitely expanding her food options lately. She now eats pretty much what John and I eat (just in tiny bites) and she loves cheetos puffs but I don't give them to her much because they make the biggest mess! She is also drinking formula out of a sippy cup now instead of a bottle. She decided to do this on her own when she woke up one morning and completely refused to take her bottle but was fighting to get her sippy. We have almost finished renovating the interior of John's truck. I finished up the sun shades tonight. To say so myself, I think it looks pretty darn good.

Sleepy Baby!!

Thought ya'll might get a laugh out of this.

As we were eating dinner the other night, Hydie just couldn't stay awake to finish. As soon as I stopped the video, I gave her a bath and put her to bed. Hope you enjoy!

More Pictures Of Papaw & Danny's Visit!

EaglesWorld War 2 Bunker

Hydie and Daddy

John, Hydie, Papaw Fatty

Ocean and Mountains

Visit With Papaw Fatty

After a 12 1/2 hour ferry ride, Papaw Fatty and Danny Boy finally made it to Kodiak Island. To say the least, they were exhausted! After they arrived Friday afternoon I took eat lunch and then off to the house for showers and cat naps. Once we got settled in John called and wanted to give us a tour of the Alex Haley since he was on duty all night. This was my first time on the boat so it was even very exciting for me! Papaw Fatty

Saturday morning after John got home from work, we all packed up and headed out for a day of fishing! John With His Fish

Danny With His Fish

We had so much fun Saturday and we even caught a good many fish. I REALLY Caught This Fish!!

As soon as we got home and got the salmon cleaned, we ate dinner and John cook some wonderful FRESH salmon and steaks!! Sunday we decided we had, had enough fishing and went sightseeing. We took Papaw and Danny out to Fossil Beach which is one of the farthest drivable points on the island. Today John and I both had to return to work so Papaw and Danny followed me into town and did a little sightseeing on their own. Our Mississippians left tonight around 6:00 p.m. headed back to Homer, AK to finish up their trip and head back towards home.

Beach Pictures