Our solution is for Tobin to go ahead and live in the dorms on base while Bristol, the dogs, and I head north to Chicago for the time being.  We’re on a waiting list to live on base.  The wait times are unknown, ranging from the official 12 months to the unofficial 5 months to the rumored 2-3 months.  I’m hoping for 2 or less!

It is probable that Tobin will be deploying in April, so I hope to be living in Minot by then.  If not, Bristol and I will head to North Dakota to see him off.

It’s crazy to me that our time here in Barksdale in almost over already.  The moving company packs us up on Thursday, and we’re planning to drive out of here on the 24th.  It will be a busy 2 weeks!

Bad idea of the day…take photos of Bristol right when she wakes up!  Ah, memories.

Ok, we calmed her down and she’s looking more awake.  Only partially dressed, however.  We had a 50′s themed party for her, so the rest of her outfit is a poodle skirt with a tutu underneath.

No sewing for this mama!  All I did was iron on some appliques to a white onesie, cut a simple felt poodle skirt, iron on a poodle, and cut & tie a simple ribbon tutu.  Easy peasy!

Bristol was a tad frightened of her pokey tutu.  It was better once we got the poodle skirt on.

And these are all the photos I have!  Totally left the camera behind as we had at least 14 adults and 5 or 6 kids in the house that day.  Happy birthday, Bristol!

Opening presents I

Opening presents II

Merry Christmas!  Well, for us anyway.  We opened up all the Bolton presents we had in the house, including presents from Norma Jean.

Bristol was very excited to begin!  ”Where’s my presents, Dad?”

Titus and Rogue were very excited too, but they weren’t quite sure why.

A photo of one of my presents, though this is nowhere near all I got.  Thanks, Gma Norma Jean!

Bristol was a pro at opening gifts!  Good thing since she got so many!  She got a baby doll, a baby doll blanket, a BIG blanket, puzzles, books, and socks, among other things.  Wow!

Part of Tobin’s haul: a shadow box!  We were stoked about this one, since there is a lot of military paraphernalia we would love to display as Tobin collects it.

In Bristol’s stocking was a coloring book and crayons; here is her first attempt at coloring!  As you can see, she has minimalist tendencies, more about precision really than about volume of color.  Look at that little hand in the corner!  Precious.

And once we finished opening gifts, I wrapped a bunch.  Now we’re ready for the Rumley Christmas next weekend!  Sad, none of these are for me.  :)

The other day I was dressing Andersen and she had crawled off with his socks. She came back but had left the socks behind. I said “Where are his socks?” And she crawled back to the foyer, opened the dog’s crate, and went inside to get the socks she had left there! She even brought them back to me with a tad bit of coaching. WHAT?! I had no idea she understood me so well.

At the table, Tobin decided to give her food on a fork. She picked it right up and fed herself! I would never have thought to let her try on her own yet, but she was definitely ready. My goodness.

And last but NOT least, she’s taking teeny tiny steps all on her own! I wouldn’t say she’s exactly walking on her own yet, but she’s taking adventurous attempts at it! She does the best when she tries all on her own.

This is a super belated post, but I made these lovelies ages ago to make our living room a bit more homey.  Not homely.  Homey.

Couches before:

Couches after:

Template created from cardboard and some handy-dandy online instructions:

Fabric pieces cut to the shape of the template:

Modeling the pieces sewn together…almost done!

Our sweet Bristol Sprout!  The hat was stitched up by her grandma Jacque, and I think it really brings the whole ensemble together, don’t you?  Hehehe, we couldn’t stop laughing when Bristol tried bear-crawling in this get up!

Bristol Sprout and her buddy Davy Crockett.  :)  He thought her costume was very comfortable.

Bristol is shocked by Uncle Bill’s choice of reading material.

Maybe I’ll have Thanksgiving photos up by Christmas!

But today, we got to take a tour of the B52 on base! It was my first time getting to see the guts of the plane!

Mallissa and Bristol driving on the flightline!

Tobin driving to the Buff.

Jesse ready for a good time!

Erin and Andersen enjoying the ride!

The tiny little hatch the crew has to go through to get inside the plane. Can’t even believe it. Tobin’s nav seat is just crammed in there. It was an eye opener for sure!

Sorry about all the red eye. I’m not feelin like editing online at the moment. Well, off to enjoy the rest of our visit and some homemade soup and bread!