The Landers Lifestyle: It's been one week....

Well, the first week of being a full-time mom is now under my belt. Happy to report that we all survived! It's like being on vacation but without the worry of the number of emails that will be in my inbox upon returning. It does help that we have a lot of preparing to do...not only for the arrival of Baby2 but as well as for Jon's departure. If we haven't been running errands, Ethan and I have been enjoying the Olympic games. Now that they are over I'm not sure how I'm going to fill our time....I'm sure I can find something to "distract" us (beach, pool, the playground, our buddies, etc). Don't believe it'll be too difficult living in AWESOME San Clemente!

My parents arrived into town the evening of my last official day, August 2nd. Having to clean the house certainly kept my mind off how much I was going to miss working. We had a great weekend! The last time my parents were here was for Ethan's 1st birthday which entailed a big party so not much down time. This time we were able to just relax! We were able to keep up with the Olympics, enjoyed two gorgeous beach days, ate some yummy homemade buffalo wings (courtesy of the White Family Recipe) and Grandpa's eggs, watched Jon surf, got Ethan's haircut, went out to eat, saw "The Dark Knight Rises," played TriOminos but most importantly put our feet up and just chilled.

Ethan taking care of the most important job....holding onto the pepperoni!

Helping Grandpa whisk the eggs and milk!

The breakfast makers

Grandma contributing to breakfast...feeding Ethan a bit of a croissant

Grandma receiving a high-five for her efforts!

Parents-of-the-year photo op #632

Haircut! Distracted by the Olympics!

Ethan still loves to be buried!

Testing out my sweet moves on Daddy's surf board

A sweet moment after a big head slam onto the floor. No blood just a HUGE bump & bruise!

Walking off all those calories consumed at Selma's

On Tuesday, Ethan and I headed down to San Diego to spend the day with my Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa was attending the small business conference. Grandma, Ethan and I mooched around the North Island NEX for about an hour and then enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Hotel Del Coronado. It's fun to pretend to live that kind of lifestyle!!!

Pretty sure this is my first full-blown preggo picture...36 weeks!

Our trip around Coronado was cut short as Ethan needed a nap - which wound up only being 10 minutes long. Not the best but just enough to take the edge off. We headed back to the hotel room and met up with Grandpa.

Ethan loved looking at all the boats (which he insisted on calling "tucks")

After an hour of a failed attempt to get Ethan to sleep, we decided to check out the pool. Ethan had a great time. He showed Grandma and Grandpa just how much he likes being dunked and jumping off the side. The water was colder than the pool in our community, so he was chattering for the first few minutes until he got used to it (yes, I know, we are spoiled)! The evening ended with a fun and delicious dinner at Dublin Square with one of my parents' former mids and his girlfriend. It was trivia night and Ethan's favorite part was the music portion. He danced to EVERY song. That kid has got some skillz! My favorite part was sharing Mark's birthday cake - which was absolutely AMAZING!

Happy Birthday, Mark!

The rest of the week was filled with playing with our buddies, grocery shopping, a tour of the labor & delivery ward, and a pre-deployment brief. You know...the normal things! :-) Friday the 10th actually was a bit different. Ethan and I attended the Navy Cross Award Ceremony for Sgt. Abbate, a former 3/5 Marine whose uncommon act of valor saved several men during October 2011. It was truly amazing to listen to this young man's heroism! I hope one day Ethan will understand who he should look to as role models!

"With the squad leader incapacitated, and the rest of the squad either wounded or disorientated, Sgt. Abbate took command. With total disregard for his own life, he sprinted forward through the minefield to draw enemy fire and (rally) the dazed survivors. While fearlessly firing at the enemy from his exposed position, he directed the fires of his Marines until they effectively suppressed the enemy, allowing lifesaving aid to be rendered to the casualties. Realizing that the casualties would die unless rapidly evacuated, Sgt. Abbate once again bravely exposed himself to enemy fire ... and led a counterattack that cleared the enemy from the landing zone, enabling the helicopters to evacuate the wounded."

3/5 Weapons Company - Jon is the Company Commander

Hugs for Daddy after the ceremony

The weekend brought quality family time. Friday night was pizza night....I made the dough and Jon made the pizza. It was a tag-team effort - and quite delicious! Saturday was spent surfing, running errands and helping daddy pack up his stuff, but not without a stop at Bagel Shack first for a delicious breakfast bagel!

Staying out of Daddy's way while he gets his stuff together

Wait? What do you mean he can't take his lacrosse stick?

Daddy - this isn't right....

....this stuff (and you) are supposed to stay here!

On Sunday we toured the USS Peleliu (the big deck) and the USS Rushmore (Daddy's ship). Ethan had a great time walking all through the corridors and over the shin-knockers of the ship. He did quite well for being only 16 months old!!

CHEESE!!! I cannot wait to see Daddy's ship!

Just Daddy and me takin' a photo in front of Daddy's ship

Getting a quick workout in while visiting the Peleliu

Jon playing tour guide for our buddies Liam & Troy - whose own Daddy couldn't be there. Hope they learned something!

Preggo picture #2 - 36 weeks + 5 days

Mashburn family photo, minus 1

Walking up the stairs on Daddy's ship

Horsing around in Daddy's bunk

Sweet moment with Liam in one of the bunks in Daddy's room

Okay Daddy...I'm ready to go. It's way past my nap time!

Buddies for life!!

This week Ethan has figured out how to say: hi, uh oh, woah, wow, cheese, and boat. He's still taking 2 naps a day (knock on wood) and I hope this continues. This will certainly make life a little simpler when Baby2 arrives!

And now I leave you with more photos from the past last week.