Well it's been a good couple of months since I last posted about our King clan and I guess it is time to start up the writing again. For those that we didn't see during during the holiday season, Stephen made it home before Christmas and life got a little hectic :) We were thankful to be one of the few families to have their loved one home for a couple of months. Needless-to-say, two months is definitely not long enough to get in traveling, family-time, father/son adventures and a large honey-do list! But it was enjoyable and fulfilling being a family of four again!
This morning Porter, Joshua and I said "see ya soon" to Stephen again. Stephen's squadron is on a thirteen month rotation overseas. He was supposed to be home for a little longer before returning, but the government decided to make the deployment a 1.0 which means the entire squadron is deployed together for a year. So we said our goodbyes a little earlier than planned. Some of our friends are deploying today on a MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) which is basically the name for a boat tour. So the people from Stephen's squadron that are flying the "birds" out there are catching a ride on the MEU that is leaving today to take them to their destination. Stephen is pretty excited about being on the boat for a little while, but I can't wait to see if he is all happy go lucky after this ocean ride! We'll see! I will not however have any contact with him until he gets to his destination. The MEUs only get communication access when they're in port, so once I hear from him I will let everyone know.
Porter is doing really well as usual. Porter is doing well in school. I went to see a little presentation they put on last Thursday and he is getting so big and smart! I can't believe he'll be starting kindergarten in the Fall. Porter turned 5 last month and had too much fun with all of his friends and family that came to visit. His big present from us was a new bike. He has had a fear of bikes ever since his crash with Stephen before Stephen's first deployment, so we let him go and pick out his bike that would "help him" be a better biker. Giving Porter the reign in the bike store COMPLETELY conquered his fear! Seriously! That kid asks to go bike riding everyday and yesterday he rode his bike on our 3-mile loop while Stephen and I walked. Amazing!! So so proud of him :)
Joshua has had a rough month unfortunately. The month of January came with lots of sleepless nights, green snot and sickness! Ugh....I forgot all about the baby sickness and teething. Well, Joshua cut his first took around Porter's birthday which makes sense why there has been puddles of drool following him everywhere! The week of the great snow storm Leon, Joshua ran a 101 fever for two days straight followed by a 102 fever for a day. After a doctor visit, a mild ear infection was discovered with an amoxicillin treatment. For those of y'all who don't know, Joshua HATES any type of medicine. So pinning him down and squirting that stuff down his throat and then having him spit it out in our face was very daunting. On top of everything, two days after taking his pink medicine Joshua broke out in a head to toe red bumpy rash. After an ER visit on Super Bowl Sunday, the doctor deemed him allergic to amoxicillin. Yippee. Oh this child :) He now feels better, has a tooth and is primarily on formula. He is growing weighing in at 15 pounds which puts him on the growth chart at 10% for weight and <2% for height. He is such a "little" ball of cuteness! Also, for those that haven't seen his little belly button, Joshua has an umbilical granuloma. It looks like a little red bubble on the inside of his belly button that has kept growing with him. He had an ultrasound performed to make sure it was attached to any major organs internally so that he can possibly have it cauterized with silver nitrate or have it nicked off by the pediatric surgeon. It luckily is not attached to anything, so we have an appointment for a consultation with the Pediatric Urologist from Chapel Hill on my birthday, March 25th. More to come on that next month :)
As for me, I am excited to use this deployment as my "me" time for redecorating the house, having quiet time, doing my bible studies out in town, having playdates, volunteering, traveling and having some girl time! I have already started my redecorating process this morning and enjoyed my coffee and quiet time while Porter was in school and little J was napping. Big news for me this morning:I heard from my Endocrinologist this morning who told me my bloodwork came back normal which means I don't have to take my thyroid medicine anymore! I go back in 6 weeks to get my bloodwork checked to make sure it is staying in the right range. I am super excited to be off of my medication which means my hormones are finally normalizing since I had Porter! After my good news, I started the deployment cycle yet again with putting the countdown calendar on the fridge and the goodnight kisses jar on the counter for Porter when he came home from school.
We're starting our first night of deployment with pizza and salad at our friend's house who live down street. We're more ready to start this deployment for sure than we were our last one. Now that Joshua is older and Porter had his attitude checked before Stephen left, we are ready to take on anything! The three of us are actually making our first trip of the deployment to Charleston this Thursday. My Mom just purchased a new home and I am taking advantage of the extended weekend to come down and help decorate and give my expert advice on what she should do with her new home ;) We're pretty excited to get down to Charleston so soon and of course Porter will be bringing his new bike! Hopefully I'll get to see some of y'all this visit. I will be in Charleston from Thursday evening and leave early Tuesday morning. Who needs school on Friday and Tuesday? :) haha I hope everyone is doing well and staying warm during this season of freezing! We're expecting snow here again tomorrow and Wednesday. That's the third time in the past 2 1/2 weeks we will have snow if it does!! I'm ready for some warmer weather for sure! Porter is loving the snow weather, but now that Stephen's not here...this Momma can't spend hours out in the cold making snowballs!! Whew!
Joshua got his first haircut on Porter's birthday! He looks older and definitely more like a little King for sure :)
This was the morning after the big snowstorm Leon! The base was closed from Tuesday through Friday that week (also the week Joshua had his fever and allergic reaction)
Stephen and I doing a selfie in the backyard sans kids!
This was how Porter spent his snow days. I show this picture because no lie, he looks just like the kid that got his tongue stuck to the pole in A Christmas Story! But, he stayed outside in two hour increments for two days straight in the snow so I'd say the layers were extremely beneficial!
This was little Joshy's first snow! He was totally bundled with his 101 fever. :( Poor kid...but we had to document it!
When I went to Porter's school presentation last week, we were told to look at the bulletin board outside. The title of this board was "When I grow up, I want to be..." This was Porter's answer :) When I asked him why he wanted to be a construction worker, he responded "Because I want to build things!" Too sweet.
This was snow number 2 this past week. We woke up Friday morning and Stephen said, "Yeah. It was raining and then the temperature randomly dropped and it snowed." Random! So school was closed yet again and Porter played his little heart out until it melted that afternoon.
P and J take baths together now. Joshua LOVES bath time and has already started blowing bubbles in the water on his own! Porter can't STAND taking baths with Brother because he "bothers" him. haha And the sibling arguments begin :)
This was taken this morning dropping Stephen off at his squadron. Porter and Joshua were ready for their "see ya soon" this morning which meant that our countdown to homecoming can finally begin :)
