Preschool, WOC & Jiu Jitsu...

With everything being so busy in our lives, I've decided that I should document it some how for my two boys. Maybe they'll have this to come back to and smile over their memories. I feel as if I have already missed out on some of our life but I guess this is better than nothing. I'll dive right into what we have going on now.

These past few weeks have been fairly active. Jay is putting together his application packet for Warrant Officer Candidate school. He's going to ALC (BNCOC) in about a month and will be gone for 6 weeks for that. We've also been talking about enrolling Jayson into preschool and Jay into a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school.

While on the phone with Annie yesterday, I started talking about needing Jayson to get the social interaction and to excel where I can't seem to keep his attention. We, Annie & I, started searching the internet for preschools in the area that would fit my family's lifestyle and belief base. I started to feel defeated and walked a way to tend to somethings through out the house while still chatting with her on the phone. Then she said she had found a church near me that offered Mother's Day out & Preschool for 3-4 year olds. She said she would email me the links. We continued on with our chat while I worked around the house and forgotten about the preschool. Later that day, when Jay got home from work, we were tossing around the idea of sending Jayson to preschool in the fall. It just clicked out of no where that Annie had sent me those links in an email. I pulled it up and we both were very interested in what we saw. Warren Baptist Preschool Ministry is the place we've decided to check out and more than likely send Jayson in the fall. Jayson is extremely excited about going to school. He talks about it constantly. I believe this will be a great opportunity for him as he will learn how to socialize with children his age, positive reinforcement, and function in a class room setting. Eli will benefit from Jayson going to school because he'll have some one on one time with myself while Jayson is in school, plus he'll be retaining a lot of what he sees his big brother doing and learning.

Jay has suddenly gotten a jump on his packet for WOC. He had been tossing the idea around until we finally decided to stop talking about it and just do it. I'm sure it took a lot of guts on his part because it's a big step for his career. We're very excited and nervous about this transition into a new world. We've been in the enlisted world for so long that we're unsure what the Warrant Officer lifestyle has to offer us but we are very excited to find out. Jay is so good at what he does and it shows through everything he has done. He has several people who believe that he is a perfect candidate for becoming a Warrant Officer. I'm so proud of him and I just wish his fear of rejection would subside and give him peace during this process.

As for his hobbies, he has always (since the day I've met him) been extremely engulfed in all sorts of hobbies. He is an artist, an amateur wrestler, comic book enthusiast and UFC fan. So his recent interest is to enroll into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. With the current schedule we have, it seems difficult to fit it in but I hope he doesn't just give up as another hobby unobtainable. After he returns from ALC and we have our family vacation, I believe he'll have plenty of time to take BJJ. Right now he seems a little deflated because he can't do it right now but I'm sure when these next few months are over, he'll become more excited about his opening schedule for BJJ.

Ahhh, Vacation... I almost forgot. As of right now, we have a short vacation booked in July. We will be going to Williamsburg, VA for a week, Thanks entirely to my grandmother. I wanted to do something a little bit more family oriented while still educational for Jayson. I remember as a kid growing up we used to visit historical places. While it sounds boring, it was extremely fascinating and because of those places we visited, it birthed my interest in history. Being a military family, learning about the history of our beloved country gives us a pride and honor in what we all sacrifice for. I hope that my children bear that same pride that I have from being a daughter of a sailor, wife of a soldier and prior service soldier myself. Even with some of the ups and downs in our current government and economic circumstances, I still bear a great pride in our country and what we have made ourselves into.

Eli is crawling, walking along furniture and babbling up a storm. I'm sure he'll be walking in the next few months. He is so determined to keep up with his big brother. One thing I've learned time and time again, now that I am a mommy to two, is that every child is different. I've heard it said time and time again and I didn't doubt it. I just didn't understand how deeply it went. I guess I assumed that of course they would be different but being brothers and of the same parents, they would have a great many similarities. Boy was I wrong, the only thing these two have in common is the fact that they look similar. Just in Eli's short 7.5 months of life, he has been a perfect contrast to his brother. He is extremely vocal, has a temper that tests mine and is stubborn to boot. Jayson at this age was fairly easy to please, easy going and flexible to everything. Eli likes routine and Jayson was go with the flow. These two are night and day. Eli only sleeps in his crib and sometimes his car seat. Jayson would sleep anywhere as long as he was tired enough. Jayson loved to sit and play on his own, Eli insists on having attention paid to him almost all the time. I could probably go on and on about the differences in these two. It just amazes me every day how different these two are. It makes me wonder how the terrible twos will be with Eli, oy vey! LOL

Tomorrow I'll probably post about how we like the preschool and if we enrolled Jayson.

-Traci