Little Snot

Joli looked so cute today, but as you can see did not want me to share with anyone. She did however keep a little black clip in her hair all day, simply because she hadn't realized I had put it there!
We did not have an incredibly busy day. Just visiting with friends and trying to relax.

The Day of Rest

So we finally stayed home today. We started out the day with a good breakfast.
Then went out to hang some laundry. I've recently brought the wagon and the toy box full of balls out of storage, and Joli has been loving it! Here she is trying to figure out the seats on the wagon.
Here are my two children, who have both decided to openly defy me now that their father is gone! Joli loves Kota, but she's always very cautious when they are in close proximity to each other. Kota has a tendency to knock her over and whack with his tail when he's excited, which is just about every time he sees her!

Joli decided that this staying home thing was not going to work for her, so she went and found the chain for Kota so we could leave.
Kota didn't go for it.
Eventually she gave up and decided to see how many times she could wrap the chain around herself.

After lunch I decided it was time to put up my caution tape! Isn't it so cool!? I wanted to put up some yellow ribbon for Joe, but since we're a little short on cash I decided this will have to do for now.
Once the sheets were washed and I had remade the bed, I realized that Joli and I had both made an attempt to fill the void in the bed.
I picked the giant body pillow, Joli picked the four monkeys.

Ordinary Life

Well Joli and I have officially moved back into a normal life. After two days of not quite knowing what to do with myself and feeling as though any person that looked at me the wrong way was going to open the flood gates, I have pulled myself together.

Today Kacie and I took Joli to the Wild Animal Park. We only ended up staying a few hours, but it was nice all the same. Joli was in her typical "I do NOT have to listen to anything anyone else says" mood. Here is a shining example of what "We cannot climb into the pigpen" will get you.
Then there was the stare down with the duck. Ducks are cool until they start quacking at you, then there is a string of Joli words that roughly translates to "you better just back it up there my friend".
After Kacie was an amazing sweetheart and bought us lunch, we headed over to check out the gorillas. This lasted a few moments until I discovered that the smell we thought was coming from the gorillas, actually had her butt right in my face. So with some heavy negotiating and eventually a kicking and screaming toddler rolled up under my arm, we headed off to correct the problem.

When then headed down to check out the lions. Joli was particulary excited about this as she is now the proud new owner of a stuffed lion from the wonderful Target $1 section. Once we got down to the lions Joli pressed her face against the glass and repeated "lion kitty, lion kitty". I'm assuming this goes back to a previous conversation about how lions are just like kitties.As always, riding around in a stroller is completely exhuasting and one must stop and rest. . . at every, single bench you come across!

I guess at the end of the day all that really matters is who you're sleeping with! Quite a big bed for such a little girl, and notice how her feet are once again searching for Joe. Always a daddy's girl! Love you babe!

Day One and the Never-Ending Turtle

Well here we are on day one and there's already some drama. Our turtle, Henry, escaped about two months ago. Joe and I had both pretty much given up hope that he was ever going to be found again. Until today. Kota has been digging in a particular spot for about two days and apparently he was digging to Henry. I think Henry thought he was going to hybernate, and Kota seemed to disagree. Needless to say, here's Henry!!
Last night Kacie came over to keep us company on a lonely first night and brought us these! Aren't they so pretty!?! Joli kept saying "My flower, my flower!" I let her have one, which they dog tried to eat and it ended up in the vase with all the others anyway.

Then we put on some music and Joli did her "I might just take ballet" dance, with her hands in the air and an attempt at a spin on one foot.
This morning Joe called to tell us he had arrived, and since we were up, we decided to go to a playdate/brunch with some friends from Moms and Tots. While we were there, the kids discovered that some ducks had migrated into the pool!

So I guess we won't be too lonely. We'll certainly miss Joe, but we'll be busy, busy, busy!

The Small Things I'll Miss

Joe is officially gone now. He didn't leave until later in the day so we were able to spend at least half the day with him, and that was nice. It gave us an opportunity to say our good byes at home, and not look like blubbering idiots in front of his entire platoon. Joe and I did okay. Joli made a big pouty lip, wobbled her chin, and clung tightly to Joe's neck. Joe tried to tell her goodbye and she said "No" over and over. Once our eyes started to fill up we kissed each other, I pulled Joli off of Joe, and we said good bye.

A few weeks ago I started taking pictures of things that only occur in our household when Joe is here. I decided not to put up the pictures of his underwear in the middle of the floor, or the toilet paper sitting on top of the toilet paper holder, but I thought this picture was adorable.

Joe was trying to dry his boots before he left and I absentmindedly put Joli's diapers out to dry right next to them. It was just so sweet and made me teary to think that it won't happen again for awhile.

Joe was very annoyed, but when am I going to get to see him laying in bed again? By the way that's Joli's blanket that I made for her, not Joe's.
Here's a nice picture of the two of us getting ready for bed. I'm going to miss that.
This morning we woke up a little earlier than usual and just layed in bed for awhile. Joli was a little bit annoyed, mornings are just not her thing

Since Joe started getting his tattoo he's been taking showers about four times a day to wash it. I'm going to miss that too! I hope he figures out how to wash it over there. I love you babe!

Random Joliness!

Just thought I'd put up a few photos of Joli from the last few days. Here she is enjoying a little bit of her great-grandma's jelly.
Now she's just showing off. Joe loved watching her though!
Here's Joli just before naptime. As you can see she's a little tired, whether she's willing to admit it or not.

All Ink'd Up!

Well Joe has finally finished the tattoo of his dreams! He started it last Thursday! Since he is leaving very soon, the tattoo artist was awesome and did a lot of work in a very short amount of time. So last Thursday we drove an hour up to Temecula to this studio!
Paul is the one that did Joe's work and he was amazing. He hand drew Joe's tattoo! Here is Joe after half of the first session.
This is the outline after the first session. Joe is so happy with it!

Two days later, Joe drove back up by himself and got half of the shading done.
Then last night we all went up again, and they finished the rest of the shading and the detail. Doesn't it look great!!!
Now Joe has his "Gaurdian Angel" while he's in Iraq!!