this is where we live: oklahoma

I know we're not in Oklahoma anymore, but I'm playing catch up so you'll just have to live with a few Oklahoma posts before I get into life here.

When you ask the average person who lived in Lawton (the town that is adjacent to Ft. Sill), they will tell you they hated it. But I'm unusual because I loved it there. Now, Lawton is pretty dumpy and I got really tired of Wal-Mart, but drive just a few miles out of it into the wildlife refuge and you get this:
























(my only picture of a buffalo. Every time we'd see tons I didn't have my camera)

I think a big reason I loved Oklahoma was because Rob drove me out to the refuge my first weekend there so I had an immediate connection with the land (it sounds cheesy, I know). Everyone I've talked to that didn't like (or hate) Oklahoma either never made it out there, or didn't until right before they left. I think if I stayed in Lawton the whole time I would've had a terrible experience too. But instead, we'd head out to the refuge for a drive every couple of weeks and would fall in love with that place all over again every time.

But there was beauty even in Lawton, simply because of the never-ending sky. These were taken with my phone and you can still get just how gorgeous those clouds are.






Again, crappy pictures, but gorgeous scenery. These were taken on Ft. Sill, out in the boonies (Ft. Sill consists of main post where all the buildings are, then acres upon acres of land. They need all that land so they can practice shooting their cannons)







And here is the view from my bedroom window:


And, the sunsets. When we loved in NC, I remember someone from out west saying that sunsets in the east didn't compare to sunsets out west. They were right. Every night the sky was. just. gorgeous.












But we did get to experience a real Oklahoma storm. I was really freaked out, not gonna lie. Like, had our 72 hour kits and important paperwork, etc. by the door ready to go to a shelter if we needed to. Thankfully we didn't get any tornadoes in Lawton while we were there. The storm blew in the day before we were going camping, and we didn't know it was coming. So we left to go to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of things for the campout, and I snapped this picture with my phone:


Then as we're driving down the highway we see this:

Now, I know it looks like the sun setting amidst the storm clouds, but this is looking north, not west.

I was pretty much staring at that spot the whole drive, and I would see lightning strike the earth.

I took this right next to Wal-Mart: it's the clouds rolling extremely quickly southwest. And those clouds were so dark as soon as they covered us it was dark as night. We actually just kept on driving instead of shopping and went straight home.


These pictures were actually taken after the storm had passed us; I'm looking south where all the action was. Some of these I put on here before, but you get to see them again. (and sorry for the blurry ones, it was my first time taking pictures of lightning and I had no idea what I was doing)
This first one is just for comparison, this is how dark it was that night.

Then the lightning strikes! None of it hit land, it would just go horizontally across the sky.









It was incredible.

And, I still miss Oklahoma. A lot. I haven't connected with El Paso yet, and I know it's because we haven't gone up the mountains or into the desert. I'm hoping once I connect with the land it'll feel like home.

the big brother.

I'm not going to lie, when I was pregnant with Nicola I was very nervous how Max was going to take to his new brother. Let's face it, he was pretty much a monster the few months before Nick was born and I was scared that would continue on past Nick's birth (Looking back I was just a nervous individual awaiting Nick's birth. Is it normal to be nervous about adding a new person to the mix or am I just an anxious person?). But I had nothing to worry about. Despite Max's initial ambivalence to Nick's appearance he soon warmed up to his little brother. And now they are good friends and so cute to watch together.

Oh, and after all that worry about Max's delayed speech, he pretty much exploded with words as soon as Nick was born. Figures.




Max remarked "Baby Heaby!" as I took this picture.


Giving Nick kisses. (thankfully babies are flexible and pretty durable)






These next few photos show the progression of things whenever I try to get a good picture of the two of them...



Again, thankfully babies are durable.


Nick isn't in this picture, but I just love it.


And I think this is my favorite picture of Max.








Classic. Crying baby and a finger in the nose.




I just LOVE the complete adoration on Max's face. He really loves his brother.


And LOVES to gives hugs and kisses to the baby.


As Nick has gotten bigger, Max has also enjoyed playing with him.






This picture cracks me up. Our apartment complex had a Halloween party for the kids, but Rob was still at work when it started so I had to do it alone. This was my attempt at getting a picture of them in their costumes together. Didn't work out so well. (and in case you are wondering, Max was a cowboy and Nick was Pubbert Addams)




I love the head stroke.








Nick is our little glutton. He tries to eat EVERYTHING, including people.




Right before we moved I found Max entertaining Nick in their room while I was busy doing something. Precious.






I love my boys!

the King of Battle

I had Rob read this before I posted it to make sure I didn't give away any sensitive information. More on that later. He also added a few edits, they're in green.

Not sure if you remember, but way back at OCS Rob got to pick which branch of the Army he wanted to work in. Originally he wanted either MI (Military Intelligence) or Signal Core (they do the computer stuff), but once he got to OCS and read up on all the choices, he decided he wanted to do Field Artillery instead. Me, being the loving supportive wife I am, told him whatever. NOT because I didn't care, but because I told him my number one priority was him having a job he loved (up to that point I'd had to deal with a husband who did not love his job. It stank). So if he was going to love Field Artillery, I was good with that.

However, after he chose it (and was excited about it) the number one question I would get from people was "WHY?" And I understand, compared to MI or Signal, Field Artillery is a little more dangerous. Takes you out of an office and into the fighting. BUT, I would just look at them and say "Are you kidding me? What little boy doesn't dream of blowing stuff up for a living?" And that, my friends, is what my husband does for a living. Observe:




Now is that cool or what? (that is the smallest cannon we shoot, the 105mm M119A2 approximately 56lbs projectile with a charge 3 of 7 Max range is about 14k)

Granted, it is impossible to tell just how big that boom is from the video... the little camera shake right after it goes off? Yeah, that was an involuntary jump from the gun going off. Plus it was pretty loud... loud enough that we all had to wear ear plugs and it still made us jump.

I'm sure you're wondering how in the world I got a video of that, so let me back up. Ever since Rob chose field artillery I kept pestering him if we'd get the chance to see the guns firing and he never had a clue. So when I got an email last summer (while we were in Oklahoma) saying they were going to have a family day in the field I immediately signed us up. And was SO EXCITED to finally see what my husband does up close!

When the day finally arrived, we got to ride one of the lovely buses (our soldiers get to ride all the time) out to the range (also known as, 'The Field.' Whenever they go out to 'The Field' they're out at some practice range for training). We then pile out, insert our ear plugs, and take a little tour!

Here is Max (making a face, this kid is so over me taking pictures of him) with his ear plugs... unfortunately they were one size fits all so it took a little bit of wiggling to get them in.


And I'm sure you are wondering, so YES, Nick wore them too.

Because his ears are so tiny, they wouldn't stay in by themselves so I had to hold them in. Thankfully he pretty much slept the entire time (even through the booms) so i just had one ear squished against my body so I only had to hold the one side in (so I could take pictures, that is very important you know).

Max wasn't that interested in what was going on, at least until the gun went off. Then he was VERY interested.


The source of all the noise...


Max checking out where the round hit. (using his binoculars, he never leaves home without them!)


(it's the smokey area)


And just so you know how far these suckers shoot, here is a non-zoomed-in picture. (about 2-3k)


We even got to look through the "scope" (not sure if that's the right term) (gunners site) to see the target!


We also got to go into the little "command center" (I'm such a terrible Army wife, I should know these terms but I just don't. Sorry Rob, I'm letting you down) (Fire Direction Center or FDC) to see them calling for fire and stuff. Those pictures were really boring (just picture some guys in uniforms bent over maps or on the radio) (Ok, that made it sound cool, but it really was just a bunch of guys standing around who just happened to have on uniforms too) so I didn't feel the need to keep them, so you'll just have to live with this picture of Nick I took in there. It wasn't as loud, so I didn't feel the need to hold the ear plugs in, so you can see just how big they were compared to his ear.


Then once the tours were over, we got lunch! MRE's!!

Rob thinks I'm crazy, but I actually really like the Sloppy Joe and Spaghetti with Meat Sauce ones. As in, I will eat one for lunch sometimes.

Oh, and a word of advice from real-live soldiers: STAY AWAY from the Omelet!

Unfortunately, Max wouldn't taste any part of it except the brownie. More for me! (Granted, I just eat the main course, usually with crackers from my own pantry. The bread provided in them has a funky aftertaste to me so I save those for Rob to take to the field with him. [lucky man, huh?] (thanks. Just don't forget the jalapeno cheese) I'm sure if they were all I had to eat for days straight I wouldn't be too fond)

And this post wouldn't be complete without a shout-out to my bff from Oklahoma, Tiffany. She is like Max's second mother. She's the one in the orange shirt who held and carried Max the whole time since I had a baby strapped to me. WE MISS YOU T'EE!!! Her mom was visiting this week too, so she came with. Unfortunately she doesn't have any grandchildren of her own yet (ahem, Tiffany), so she LOVED getting to snuggle my boys.

Nick is especially snuggly compared to Max (Max NEVER snuggled, and if he did it was a MIRACLE) so anyone who holds him can't help but melt.

And that is what Field Artillery is all about!

a (slightly blurry) family photo and some random stuff

This is us at Rob's graduation from BOLC B(Artillery Officer training, it stands for Basic Officer Leader Course). Max slept through the whole thing, Nick scared the entire audience when he sounded like he was going to die (he was choking on his spit, no biggie), and I took some crappy pictures (growing out bangs + looking through a viewfinder = crappy focusing). But there was a live Army band playing and everyone looked so spiffy in their ASU's!

We are now in El Paso, TX! And live just down the road from a Super Target, I am in heaven.

BUT, we miss Oklahoma a lot. Especially Ft. Sill. It's our favorite so far.

I'm having fun decorating our new house. AND, we've pretty much unpacked all the boxes. Woo Hoo! I'm just down to a pile of random stuff I'm not sure what to do with in every room.

Oh, and I don't recommend moving around major holidays. Moving is a pain and stressful as it is, but throw something like Christmas into the mix and you have a recipe for disaster.

We had lots of fun in Oklahoma, I'm hoping to showcase it all here soon!

It is warm here. I like it.

Nick is eating solids (I like to put him in the highchair and throw people food on the tray. Keeps him happy which means I'm happy), sitting up, no longer bends at the waist, and doing a "belly scoot." He's also done really well with the whole moving thing, the worst thing is he no longer likes baths.

Max likes to throw frisbees, pretend to ride his bike (he thinks him sitting on it and us pushing is how you're supposed to do it), can play video games better than I can, speaks so much my head hurts, and is an angel in Primary. Oh, and has grown a TON and is SO long and lean. When did he stop being a toddler and turn into a boy?

I can see Mexico from my house.

Thankfully, the bullets don't reach this far.

I finally have my VERY OWN STUDIO WITH A DOOR!!!! I'm hoping that combined with Nick's new-found independence means I can start making things again.

But, I'm still his favorite. Can we say mama's boy?

Rob now has a 2 car garage that is ALL HIS since I don't mind parking in the driveway. He is thrilled!

Dirt is the new grass, did you know that?

And instead of seeing leaves blowing about, we now look out our windows and see tumbleweeds rolling down the street. No joke.

We are loving life in the military, they make sure things are always exciting!

EDIT: Nick was being fussy so I gave him a frosted animal cracker. Now he's happy. Mother-of-the-Year right here.