Is it over yet?

We have now lived in Guam for 9 months. It has been interesting. I would say I liked it at first, but now I am soooo ready to leave. It is hot here every day. Hot and humid. There's never a time when we can open the windows and let a nice breeze in because, even if there is a breeze, it doesn't cool us down. The air is on all the time. Thankfully we have air, otherwise, I may not have survived this long. Yes, I know, I'm dramatic. I don't go to the beach very often because it's too much work with 2 kids. If Evan was walking, I might go more often. Plus, Ryan works all the time, and when he is off, he's so tired, he tries to catch up on his sleep. There's no Target here. When I'm looking for things, like stuff to decorate Evan's room, I can't find anything. The stores here just don't cut it. It's very depressing. I really don't ever leave my house unless I have to. The only time I have to leave the house is if I need to go to the store. When I do grocery shop, I try to stock up to avoid frequent trips to the store. Ryan and I are counting down the days until we get to leave this little island and head back home to family and friends. Less than a year left. It feels good to be able to say that. I used to say a year and a half. It still seems far away, but I know it's closer than it was when we first moved here.

Pretty much all of August, Ryan has been out to sea. He came in once a week and half ago. We saw him for an hour. Then his boat pulled in again a couple of days ago. So we got to spend a couple of days together. He leaves again today. Their email hasn't been working, so we had absolutely no  contact. It's worse for him because they're under the water. They are truly cut off from the rest of the world. It sucks because I sit and worry about him. I wonder how he's doing. We always miss him so much when he's gone. The other day when Ryan was out, Abrielle heard our neighbors garage door open. She ran to the door yelling, "Daddy's home!!" Oh, she was sooo excited until I broke her heart and said it wasn't daddy. When he actually did come home, she was so happy. She was attached to him at the hip. She was so hyper and being goofy. Anywhere Ryan was, she was right there. She had to sit right next to him on the couch. It will be nice When he's home every night from work. It will be nice when we don't have to say goodbye for long periods of time. Less than a year. Less than a year.

So what do I do? Well, the kids obviously keep me occupied. I also try to workout 4-5 times a week. I want to stay in shape or even get in better shape. Don't settle for less. When Ryan is not here, I really don't cook. Abrielle's appetite is all over the place. I'm lucky some days if she eats a poptart. I have recently updated their baby books. I want to start working on Evan's scrapbook. I made a scrapbook of Abrielle's first year. I want to do the same for Evan. So I do try to keep myself busy.

So Abrielle. She is growing and growing. She doesn't have that baby look anymore. I guess that has been gone for a while. She doesn't have the rolls she once had. She likes to push my buttons. I'm not sure it's terrible 2's because she's been pushing my buttons from the very beginning. I know every parent says this about their child, but I think Abrielle is pretty smart for her age. She knows her ABC's. She might not recite the whole ABC song by herself, but she does recognize every letter. She also knows how to count to 16. She obviously knows her colors and shapes. She has a great memory. She loves to help me around the house. She helps put the dishes away and helps me fold clothes. She loves playing outside. I try to go outside more in the evening when it feels like 100 degrees and not 115 degrees. That's pretty much her.

Evan. He's my sweet boy. He's the most easy going baby. He's easily pleased. Doorstops keep him entertained forever. With all that said, I think his easy goingness has kept him from wanting to crawl or pull himself up or walk. He can army crawl like no one's business. He has also started to get up on his hands and knees. I guess he feels content enough with his mode of travel, so he doesn't feel the need to crawl. A physical therapist came to my house yesterday and showed me different things I can do with Evan to help motivate him to crawl. Hopefully it helps. When he was younger, he didn't care who held him. That has changed. He has developed stranger anxiety. When I took him to the doctors for his 12 month check up, he clinged onto me. He didn't want me to put him down. The scale at the doctors office said he was 23lbs 14oz, but my scale says he's 25lbs. So I'm not sure how that happened. Either way, he's still a big boy. He's in 18 month and 24 month clothes. I think that's it on Evan.

Well, I'm not sure what else to say. I don't even know if anyone reads these. If not, oh well. If you did read it, hopefully it wasn't too boring.