So many uniforms....

So many to choose from! How will I ever get it straight!?!?! Ive never seen so many uniforms in my life! Although, I will say that every one does benefit Matt very well!! :) He has always been handsome, but I think that it's something about a guy in uniform that can drive a girl crazy!! And in any uniform he has on, Im going crazy! Im sure it will all die down as I look at them all day everyday, but for now I'm loving it! Here's some pics of the different uniforms they have.

This is just my man looking HOT! ;)

The military has done him well!!

These are the Navy Camo outfits. When in boot camp,

they make you buy 4 pairs....WHY??

These are called Peanut Butters. They wear these to school and

working rounds at the hospital or whatever job they have.


This is the Marine Camo outfit. Obviously, they are living in this uniform
these days. The hardcore training is done in these.

This is the Dress Whites. Only worn through spring/summer seasons. Very nice but easily wiped out! They have a similar uniform that is called Dress Blues which is a deep navy color and similar style.

They also have P.T. Gear which is a bright yellow/gold shirt and navy running shorts. Obviously the navy has blues and whites, but now he is also kind of considered a marine, so now we also have a variety of green and brown. They have regulated sweatshirts and sweatpants, jackets, hats, gloves, earmuffs, etc....it goes on and on....but I'm sure one of these days I'll get it all straight with what goes with what. I hope!!

New Friends

When Matt journeyed to Camp Lejuene, he knew he was going to meet all kinds of new people, fellow sailors, I guess. We didn't expect Matt to meet as many going to Beaufort as he did. I think so far he's met like 5-6 people being stationed down there! But one couple in particular stands out. Shane, who is in Matt's platoon for FMTB, will be joining us in Beaufort at the same time we are going there. Not only have they become friends, but Shane informed us that he is married to his wife Nicole, who is from San Antonio, TX and is a hair stylist. I thought my prayers had been answered when I found out that she was a hair stylist and I didn't have to try every place in town to find someone to do my hair! But she traveled to Camp Lejuene one weekend and Matt was able to meet her and gave her my number. She texted one day and we have talked every day since then! We are the same age and have just about everything in common! I think we will get along just fine. It helps so much that she is going through the exact same thing I am. She loves kids! She has two step-sons who live in TX. She made the move back in December to Wilmington North Carolina to be closer to her husband. I'm incredibly jealous :(
She sees him every weekend and spends the whole two days with him! SO LUCKY! But like me, the guys have been away since May and we miss them terribly! So, as we have talked and gotten to know each other better, we have been able to start the trust and confiding in each other. Which I love. I learned this week that she was having some nausea and feeling really yucky and sick. A couple days later I pushed her to take a pregnancy test and when she did, we learned that she was going to be a mommy of all her own! We both are so excited!! I cant wait to get to Beaufort and watch her go through it all. Having been there and done that, twice, I lended my hand to help and my shoulder to lean on. I know what every symptom feels like, every ache and pain. I cant wait! We are going to be having a little baby around again! Makes me want another one!! AH maybe I should stay away! Lol. It looks like she is dues October 6. My birthday month!! Something so great to look forward too!!! Not only am I excited to be moving to where they are going, but to be able to hang out face to face and go baby shopping!! I know that they will become such great friends of ours! It makes me feel so much better about moving to Beaufort!! Strange cities can make you nervous, especially moving onto a military base! But, with her around, it will make it that much easier :)

Garage Sale $$

For the last three weeks or so I have been so busy getting ready for the huge garage sale we were holding. I have been back and forth from the storage unit so many times I lost count. Bringing loads back to the house to only have them take up all the space in our garage. We couldn't barely walk through it let alone the girls trying to play and crawl in it. But I put my emotions aside and priced all of the baby items that I had that were no longer going to be used by Charli and got them ready for sale, all of the baby clothes that I have been hauling with every move and home we lived in and stickered them. I thought halfway through this, how am I going to do this, I cant give these precious clothes away, but I sucked it up and kept going through stuff knowing that if I kept it, it was going to be wasted space in our new home, which I have no idea how much space we are going to have. So, with that in mind, I kept my head down and emotions in the car and plugged through it all. As Saturday rolled around I realized I had SO much stuff. And we loaded up the van and truck, they were so full, and we took it over to the house in our old neighborhood that we lived in. Gulf Harbor doesn't allow garage sales so we were able to use a friend of ours' driveway. By 645am Saturday morning we were over there setting up and prepping for the day. We were concerned because it was rather chilly, 44*, that morning, but we put the signs up at both entrances and two minutes later we had customers! Never fails! LOL. By 830 I hadn't sold too much and my mom's things were going like hotcakes! But as the day rolled around things started flying of the tabled and cash was rolling in! I thought by like 12 or 1 we would be done, but I had people coming til 2! It was an excellent turn out and I got rid of so much stuff and it felt really good knowing that I no longer have all these things trailing me around the world. For all the things I didn't get rid of, I will just donate to an organization. Needless to say, it was all a success and it put a smile on my face knowing that my things were going to be used again by another family that needed them and couldn't afford new. I'd say all in all it was a blessing!

FMTB Training

Matt has been in FMTB training now since the beginning of January. He has been positioned as the MAA (master at arms) for his platoon of 65 guys. For those of you that don't know MAA, that's an honor to have that title. Matt feels very honored and privileged to hold that title. I'm so proud of him! They go through a Marine boot camp, so to speak, and they make the men/women train for war. This week they are out at the Riffle Range and are learning how to shoot and do all kinds of different/crazy things. I hate the thought of him shooting guns. UGH! I wish guns were banned from every country and walk of life! I hate them!! Anyway back to what I was talking about..the guys have been staying at these old barracks and they have no hot water or heat. The mattresses they sleep on are bare with just their sleeping bags on top! Talk about roughing it!! I feel so bad for them and to top it off they have barely any cell phone reception, which makes talking to him all that much more fun. So unfortunately they will be out there until Friday so I write him texts so it has all day to go through so that when he gets back to the barracks he has something to read. I guess I'm just trying to fill the wifely duties as well as supporting.
This training is very grueling and hard. The worst is yet to come. It's like they are training them from the era of the Vietnam war and all the tactics they used. From army crawling on the ground with guns while shooting, to carrying wounded soldiers through freezing waters up to their necks. They do long mile hikes and camp out with only food rations for days at a time. And I thought Holiday Inn was roughing it! LOL! Poor guys! But as long as they drive through this training and come out on top, they will only be that much better of a man, soldier and being. I'm so proud of what Matt has accomplished so far! I can't wait to see what else this military life will hold for him.

Military...Wife???

Only in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine such a life like living through the military. I always imagined a home, with my husband and children close to family, with good paying jobs and being contently happy. The military lifestyle gave me nothing of that....the first year....
After a million of long night discussions and ruined dinners over the topic, I supported Matts idea and need and want to join the military. August 6 2009 rolled around and we officially became a military family. Matt, me, Finley, and the unknown baby (at the time). I never realized what I was going to be in for. Going through so many things all at once (wendy's passing, expecting baby 2, and moving to fl) really was overwhelming. But like an adult....or a girl with amazing friends and family, I got through it all. Plus having the world's best husband always helps. :)
Matt left for boot camp in May 2010 and still isnt home. Boot camp takes place in a suburb of Chicago called Great Lakes. Which makes trips up there interesting since Chicago is only a 45minute train ride away. I had the priviledge of witnessing Matts boot camp graduation in July and spending the weekend with him after not seeing him for 3 months and the only communication alloted was written letters with an occasional earned phone call. In 12 weeks, I only heard from him 3-4 times. It was a long couple months without him, although the girls kept me completely occupied and some phone calls from the world's greatest friends helped too. After he graduated, Matt moved on to "A" school, still in Great Lakes. He excelled at all expenses and just grew as a person, as a husband, as a father, and as a recruit. He is now in Jacksonville North Carolina stationed at Camp Lejuene completely FMTB Training, aka Combat and Casualty Training. Basically, if Matt ever goes to war, this is the training that prepares him for that. He will be done with this training and graduate March 8. The date that cannot come fast enough!!! After graduation he will head directly to Beaufort South Carolina which is his first duty station. Finley, Charli and I will be joining him there shortly after. I have to stay here for a few extra days to make sure the move goes off without hitch. Crossing my fingers!! I am so looking forward to this move since the last move I did was moving away from him. It has been one long year but its been an experience and I dont regret it. I have missed him more than a wife can miss their husband and I feel so sorry for him that he has missed Charli's first year. He's missed Finley's preschool growth and it was all in part of a huge scarifice that he is making for us, our family, and our country.

Welcome Baby #2

Ok, so baby #2....where does that begin?? Our new baby, our little girl, Charli Lyn Way, was born 4/15/2010 and she graced the world with her tiny little body, dark peach fuzz, and sweet little smile. She weighed 6lbs. 12oz and was 19in. long. She was just so beautiful and watching her grow and develop had just been such a great experience. I love being a mom to Finley and Charli. My two little girls have blessed me in more ways than I can possibly imagine!
Charli is now 9 months old and is almost walking. She just tries so hard and she has almost got it, but not quite yet. She follows Finley around crawling as fast as she can..if she crawled any faster, she would have smoke beneath her knees! Its so cute to see her try to hard to keep up!! She is learning how to play patty cake and she plays peek a boo and so big! Its entirely too precious! Charli is my rock right now. She came to me when Matt left (ill explain)....She has been there for me, with me ever since..making me laugh, cry, smile, cheer..making me so proud. Finley is at the age that parents question what theyve done the past 4 years. LOL. She is in preschool and loves it! Shes made a ton of friends and we have playdates often. I love the school where she is presently and I will miss it when its gone. She is such an amazing big sister and loves Charli to death! These girls are so cute when they play together, but dont get me wrong, they both have their "unglamorous" moments...thats the nice way of putting it! I cant wait to see what the future holds for the both of them! We will see...
Charli very much resembles my mom. Their baby pictures are identical and I couldnt be happier to have one of my kids look like my side of the family. Finley is ALL DeHaven and she is perfect, but now we have one that is Hein and Icouldnt be happier!! She has deep blue eyes and reddish brown hair that is slowly coming in. As all of you know how blonde Finley is, well Charli is the opposite. Im anxious to see if it stays that way....

An Entire Year or so later.....

I see that those of you that were following this blog were probably wondering what has happened since I have not been keeping posts up to date for some time now. As Finley and I say, "Bad Mom Award." Haha! So much has been happening in our lives, that computer time, blogging time, sanity time has disappeared...it resurfaced not that long ago, but as I will explain, time still gets away from me without a notice!

To begin where we left off...the new house! We found an amazing house on top of the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia. We lived there for a year. The house brought us amazing luck and bad luck all at the same time. The spring and summer and fall seasons at the house were just beautiful. The temperature was stuck around 80-85* and we never turned our AC on once! Blessing on the electric bill!! We could have all the doors and windows open and just let the fresh air in. We grilled out on the enormous size deck we had every night overlooking the Shenandoah Valley and watching the most beautiful sunsets mountains can give. Matt and I could see ourselves living in that house for a long time. The house just felt like "home". Not too many rentals can do that for you. We just were a family in our home with family over all the time and friends stopping by...not too many reasons not too love it. We had been living in the house for a few months, being happier than ever, when we found out the downfall. Matt's mom was given news that her cancer could no longer be helped. We tried everything we could, but it was getting the better of her. All of a sudden, everything changed, in a single breath, nothing could have made it better. We ended up spending so much time over at Matt's step dad's that his home became our home, and just like that, the mountain house lost all of its appeal. It was 30 mins away from the most precious woman life could give you. We spent everyday with her, laughing with her, enjoying meals with her, watching her take in all of Finley that she could, treasuring every minute possible. She lived every day to the fullest and she never let her spirits down! I hope someday that if anything like that happens to me, I can cope the way she did. I didn't know that anything could make this process easier to go through, the process of dying and death and watching it all day by day, until Finley's 3rd birthday party.....August 22...the day I found out I was PREGNANT! Our second child was on the way! And as the news got spread around like wild fire, because I had such a nervous and excited husband ;) .....everyone knew that we were having baby #2. Wendy arrived at the birthday party with a smile plastered on her face, she walked up to me, hugged me tight, and called me "bitch". That's so Wendy!! I will miss her everyday!! Wendy passed away September 24 and we were all with her holding her hands as she left us. It was so quiet, gentle, and peaceful. I have never witnessed something so beautiful. It has been over a year now that she has passed and still there isn't a day that goes by that I dont think of her and imagine her words, expressions, laughter watching our 2 babies play.