Measuring Up - 6 months

I went to the zoo the other day with just the kids. It was a successful day meaning; I didn't lose anyone (for longer than a few minutes), they all were fed, no one wet their pants, no meltdowns and we all had fun. 6 months is magic for me, empowering even. I feel like it takes me that long to get good sleep and get into a solid routine... and I can say to myself on a regular basis "you've totally got this". It's that feeling that makes me think getting pregnant again is not the scariest thing ever. I may have said that outloud the day that Mallie was conceived (on Hannah's 6 month mark). Don't worry I'm making David sleep on the couch tonight just in case.

Here are 6 things about Mallie Jane at 6 months:

• Stats are 97% for height 20% for weight at 14.4lbs
• Doesn't take a binky but will still fall asleep in our arms
• Is sitting up and is just days a way from the army crawl
• Still chooses to smile at anyone over playing with a toy
• Is already too long for 9 month clothing
• Is the happiest social little thing I've ever met

No new news on the army front. It could be a month or two atleast. But it's weird thinking that the impending move is just 4 months away. I'm starting to clean out closets and thinking I should I invest in a pair of cowboy boots before I leave Texas. Yeehaw.

The Lord smiled while we made our plans...

David and I had our ideal army base all picked out in our heads. 20 mins from Barstow, CA smack dab in the middle of nowhere. 2 hours and 20 minutes from Vegas 2 hours and 30 minutes to DisneyLand and a mere 8.5 hours from Miday. We were pretty hopeful for that base knowing that your only neighbors are coyotes and honestly, who besides us would want it?

And then the list of available bases came out on Weds morning. We thought for sure we'd see Ft. Irwin on there. Not a chance. So out of the 13 bases only one was located out west. Ft. Carson Colorado, which we had already heard is impossible to get right out of school. We still put that as our number 1 choice but we've heard every other graduating dentist has also ranked that number 1. So here are other 4 rankings and the rationalization behind them...

West Point, NY (1 hr away from NYC - and I've always had the eastcoast bug)
Ft Leonard Wood, MO (My brother & sis-in-law will be there for the next couple of years)
Ft. Lee, Va (gorgeous and close to DC)
Ft. Campbell, KY - I always joked about getting a base in some random place like KY, but upon further notice it's not such a bad spot. 1hr10mins from Nashville which means a Temple and a major airport AND still close enough to drive to the coast.

Will we get one of these? Who knows... but as I've said all along as long as it's not a base in Oklahoma (we had one bad experience there and never want to go back) or Texas (been there done that) we'd be happy!

And there is your update on our future location! The adventure awaits...

Where or where will we be...

in the fall. Our next location seems to be a constant discussion for everyone. We'll owe the army three years after we're done with school and we wont find out where we'll be stationed until the end of March. It's getting kind of crazy living in limbo... kind of like not finding out what gender your baby is (did I mention I wasn't such a fan of waiting for the suprise?). Anyway, we've put in our top spots 2 in Cali to be close to family and 1 in Virginia. Will we get one of those spots? I'm not counting on it... but if we can't bank on where we'll go for the army we can dream about where we'll live post army.

And while we were at my parents over New Years David and I discussed it a lot. Would we miss out west if we moved to a small town on the east coast (think Gilmore Girls)? My parents tried to convince us that Midway would be an ideal location after we do three years on a base. And mother nature only helped their argument. We woke up to snow and frosted trees every morning...

and one morning I walked through the kitchen and saw this enormous elk hanging out in the backyard.

My mom and I sat and watched it for 20 minutes... we felt like it was straight out of National Geographic. Ashton asked if he could go out and play with the reindeer over a dozen times. My Dad who is the opposite of a techy even told me I should put this picture on my blog. That's a big deal coming from a man who I'm sure hasn't touched an actual keyboard ever. All of his websites were bookmarked for him, he can play games, click on emails (only to be answered with a phone call or my mom) and check his kids' blogs all from the click of a mouse.

If only UT weren't completely oversaturated with dentists... Midway might make it on our short list.