All the craziness...

Well here we are, a month ago today we were headed to the hospital to have our little monster Nat!  I can hardly believe that she will be a month old tomorrow.  Doodle of course thinks she's "super awesome!"  haha  I love it.  Nat is doing awesome.  Sleeps well, eats like a little piggy and loves to chit chat when she's not sleeping.  :D  Doodle's been a bit of a monster with all this change and transition going on.  All will settle soon enough I hope.

Our HHG came and we've been trying to go through what's broken and missing....there's a lot.  Thank goodness nothing that can't be replaced, but still.  I guess we kind of expected it.  Shane's almost finished with school and I can't wait!  All the late nights, excessive papers, and pissy moods will all be worth it in the end.  lol

I'm hanging in there.  I'm not one to like to share my space AT ALL.  Adjusting to living with another family...even temporarily has not been an easy thing for me.  Not having anyone I'm horribly familiar with around to spend time with isn't helping much either.  I hope things get better as a whole, but we'll see.

Moving day...sort of!

Well, we finally had our things delivered today.  What a crazy nightmare that was!!  So many things are missing or damaged...it's really quite sad.  Thank goodness Shane had the good sense to make sure we backed up everything we needed onto external hard drives...BOTH of our computers are missing!!!  Thank goodness for Shane's sister today too.  She was such a big help with the girls, there is no way we could have finished everything without her help.  Our room still looks like a nightmare, but at least Doodle's is done.  Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to set up Nat's crib and get things a little more organized in our part of the house.  Hopefully, sooner than later, we will be able to have our own space again.  But for now, we're just happy to have a place to stay and a little bit of space to call our "own."

We have a Noodle!

lol  So affectionately dubbed "Noodle," Natalie is here!!!  Doodle is a big sister.  :D  Labor went well and relatively "easy" (for lack of a better word).  Nat is doing well and Doodle is slowly getting use to the idea of having a sibling.  Shane is quite taken with Nat, he's pretty much hung onto her most of the day.  lol  I get to hold her long enough to feed and change her, then hand her back.  :D  All in all, we are all doing well and are super excited that our newest little monster has finally joined us!!!

we are here! We are Here! WE ARE HERE!!!!

Hooray!!!  We made it...barely.  lol  Yesterday is not one that I would want to repeat anytime soon for sure.

Doodle started my morning around 430a yesterday (Central European time I think?).  Finished packing up, showers, last minute details.  Shane got up around 6-630 and we got ready to go.  Thank goodness for our dear friend Jess who came to help us bring our dogs to the airport.  Our little Fiat rental just wasn't going to cut it.  lol

The airport at Jerez de la Frontera....not my favorite.  We got there right around 8 and barely made our flight at 935.  Jerez is a bit of a puddle jumper airport so an hour to check in is not unreasonable...usually.  No one knew how to check the dogs in, no one knew how to deal with Shane traveling on orders (thank goodness I always pack his passport even when he tells me not to worry about it).  Clearly being on PCS orders, we had a few more bags than generally required when traveling and not one person offered to help.  Did I mention that Doodle had been up at 430?  The meltdowns began early and only got worse once the dogs had to be taken to the terminal.  Oh boy.  lol

Flight from Jerez wasn't bad...luckily a pretty quick one.  Once we made it to Madrid we had to go find the dogs to transfer them from the one airline to the next.  Two hours and fifteen minute layover...one would think it would be enough....boy were we wrong!  We had to wait for the dogs at baggage claim, take them to the check in counter, get our tickets, take them back down to baggage claim, go back through security, find our way to the train (security and baggage claim was done alone with Doodle, five carry ons and a bag of food...no trolly allowed - Shane had to take the dogs down to baggage claim), then make our way to the terminal.  Security to the terminal...twenty five minutes.  By the time we were done we literally walked on the plane and took off a good ten to fifteen minutes later.  This was our LONG flight totally about eleven-ish hours.  Thank goodness Doodle slept about five to six hours of that flight.  She did start to get pretty restless and slammed her hand in a bathroom door, but all in all, did great for such a long flight!

Arriving in Dallas.  We were back in the States!  WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!  Still had to go get the dogs again...oh and our luggage.  Gotta love customs.  Three trollies holding two dogs, five carry ons, four checked bags, a carseat and a Doodle.  lol  Thank god for Southern hospitality...it was the first time in the entire day that someone asked if we could use some help...YES PLEASE!!  lol  Made it through customs, rechecked luggage, checked the dogs and finally had a little time to breathe.  A five hour lay over sounds like forever, but this time around was much needed.  We were able to grab something to eat, make a couple of phone calls, let Doodle stretch her legs and thank goodness she fell asleep!

1035p Central time we boarded our last flight and headed off to MS!  1150p we were on the ground waiting for all of our stuff.  A quick drive down South 55 and we could just stop.  lol  Doodle was so excited to have her dogs back and to see "Bunkka" (Grandpa).

We are so glad to be back and hope that maybe things can start to slow down a little!  :D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOODLE!!!!

Where does the time go?!  Three years ago today, Shane and I were blessed with our little monster.  38 hours of labor, Shane deployed overseas, and enough cameras, phones and webcams to make sure he caught almost everything.  :D

Everyday she grows so much and is learning like crazy!  A quick wit and sweet personality, we couldn't have hoped for a more wonderful little monster...even though today she decided she wanted to go buy a new mommy.  lol

So to my wonderful little girl, a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!  We love you munchkin!

Down to the final days....HOORAY!

Well, our pack out went well.  We actually didn't accumulate much extra and everything fit into six crates.  The car has been dropped off to be shipped and all we have left is the final house inspection and some little things for Shane's checklist that have to be done.  It's all still a bit unbelievable!

As for Doodle, I can hardly believe that she will be three on Saturday!!!  Holy cow!  While she still has her moments, more often that I would like sometimes, she is an amazingly sweet little girl with a huge personality and everyday amazes me with how smart she is.  My little monster is growing up!

This will probably be the last post until we get Stateside on Sunday as our internet will be shut off this evening.  Until next time...wish us luck and hope for a very happy birthday for our sweet little monster!  

Moving day!!!

I don't usually like to do early morning blogs...not much has happened yet.  However, as today is MOVING DAY, I will make an exception!!!  WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!  A week full of super late nights and back and forth bickering, here we are.  We are five days from being in the States again and could not be more excited!  Here's hoping after today it's smooth sailing!

Relax? What's that mean?!

Oh my goodness this week has been CRAZY!!!!!  So many appointments, cleaning, painting, more appointments, more signatures, sorting....the list goes on and on!  So sorry for not updating sooner.  Our pre inspection went well and we really don't have a lot left to get in order for the final inspection after our pack out.  Thank goodness!!!  Only a few appointments this week so this week should be a bit more relaxed than last.  Whoot!  lol

I think this week I will slowly start packing our bags for the big move so that everything is separated from the stuff that needs to be packed.  As far as we know, unless something changes drastically, next Monday the movers will be here!  We will ship off the car that Thursday and should be headed back Stateside on the 3rd.  I can hardly believe we'll be back in just two short weeks!

Thank goodness for this weekend.  We've caught up on some much needed sleep and just bum time.  Doodle's much more relaxed and actually slept through the night!  We had a movie day yesterday and I have to say, we usually feel a little guilty wasting an entire day on the couch but it was so nice just to sit back, snuggle up and hang out.  Doodle is in a much better mood and has far fewer tantrums.  I think the stress was just getting to be a bit too much.

Today we finished up the end of 'Hereafter' that we started last night then moved on to wash the car quick.  One last good cleaning before we ship it off!  I will miss my little car while it's floating back to the States.  lol  Doodle had a ball like always and was a ton of help....at least in her opinion.  :D
She loves to help wash the car.  We decided to let Charlie out and see how he would do off his leash.  All I can say is, he is my favorite dog ever!  lol  He's such a sweetheart and listens great!  He did try to take off after a cat today, but came right back when he was called.  The next one he saw, he jumped a little but waited, I called his name and he stayed right by our side.  At least I dont' have to worry about him running off!  Now if only we could get Bella to be the same way!  She was super bummed that she had to stay inside while Charlie was allowed out.  Poor thing.  lol  All in all, a great weekend and looking forward to being home again!

It's been a few days...

Well, things in the Duncan household have been nothing but crazy this past week!!!  Trying to go through things as quickly as possible to get ready for the movers, cleaning what we can for now, painting, packing boxes to ship off ahead of us, all while trying to contain our little monster.  lol  After a rather tense weekend of waiting for final signatures....we got them this morning!!!!  WHOOT!!!  Now we can actually schedule the movers, a date to send our car, housing inspection and all the other fun stuff.

Oh!  AND!  We should be able to bring both fur babies along with us as well.  :D  I know that with all the upcoming changes, keeping both dogs for now will be best for Doodle.  She's definitely a trooper and has been awesome through all of this so far.

19 days until we leave for the US!

Bittersweet

Well, we've just been informed that moving day may come a little sooner than previously expected...again.  Unfortunately, that means that we cannot take our lovely little fur baby Bella with us.  I will truly miss her.  Doodle will be devastated.  She and Bella have pretty much grown up together...she's been more of a sibling for Doodle than a pet.  We knew this move would bring some hard decisions, but this one just sucks.  :(

Holy heck!!!

After months and months of waiting around and so much uncertainty, Shane got his retirement date!  WHoooo!!!  Well, kind of.  lol  The date has been set for 28 May.  With his leave and permissive leave, that puts us leaving somewhere around...oh, 5 April!!!  Holy heck!  Basically we have a little over three weeks to paint, pack out, ship the car and get everything in order and leave!  WOW!!!  I knew it would come quick when things were finalized but never imagined it would be this quick.  Oh well, there is a reason for everything.  Here's hoping the next couple of weeks go by smoothly!  PLEASE cross fingers, toes and anything else for us and lots of prayers. We will need them!  Will keep everyone posted as best we can from here on out.  Hooray for moving day!

Doodle wants a garden.

Today was yet again, pretty run of the mill.  Our big project for the day was getting all the computers reset and backed up...fun fun.  lol  Doodle spent the day playing in the dirt with her new gardening set.  Unfortunately for the pups, they very quickly became more like something of a weapon.  lol  The high pitched yells and giggles as she chased the dogs around the yard trying to "sweep" them was pretty funny.  I suggested of course that we put the tools up for the time being and that after lunch, we could go get some flowers.  Whoo!!  A Doodle garden.  Sounds snazzy.

Off to the local nursery we went with a very excited little monster.  "I want flowers Mom!"  Oh do you know?  lol  Barely out of the car, she was off and running, seemingly knowing exactly what she was looking for.  Though the big glass doors a very excited and amazed Doodle exclaimed, "oh my gosh!" She was off!!  Smelling every flower she could find and telling us exactly which ones she wanted.  We very easily could have left with fifty different types of flowers.  The large figures of cows and donkeys seemed to almost be more fun that the flowers.  As we neared the back of the nursery she stopped, looked around and got very excited.  The ducks!!! Oh my gosh the ducks!  A very large display pond, full of ducks and turtles was waiting.  How on earth she remembers this from last summer I have no idea.  "MOM!!!  I want to see the ducks!!!!"  Yes, of course.  Off we ran to see the ducks.

Ducks, turtles and fish, my little monster was in animal heaven.  Oh if only we could feed them, I'm sure she would just collapse with delight.  After a few minutes of looking at the ducks, we decided that it was a bit chilly to be standing around in the breeze and opted to go look for anything else that could be fun to go with our plants.  Barely making it through the door, she spotted a cat.  Of course!  Yet another little critter for her to chase.  Unfortunately for me, there were clay pots EVERYWHERE!!!  As any parent with a toddler can imagine...your heart seemingly hits the floor.  Trying my best to waddle after her to keep her from climbing up the tower of pots, I finally caught up with my nutty little monster.  Just in time too!  We packed up our plants, paid as quickly as possible and headed for the car.

We finished up a couple of other quick errands and headed home.  Naturally, we had to take a few pictures.  She does so love flowers.  :D

Doctor Doodle

Today was definitely a busy one!  Appointments all day and a few errands.  All in all, not too exciting but definitely busy.  Doodle decided that while we waited for her appointment she was a doctor and a pirate.  A pretty exciting sword fight between her and Shane broke up during our hour long wait.  lol  At least she's a good sport.  :D  She makes one heck of a doctor too.  It will be interesting to see what she turns out to be later in life. She seems to be pretty enthusiastic about being a doctor for the time being....though pirate seems to be equally as cool.  haha

Tonight we've been trying to find the rest of what we need to order for Doodle's birthday coming up!  I can hardly believe my little monster is almost three!!!!  Now to get into party planning mode.  Whooo!!  I have to say however, that I cannot wait to be back in the States!  Shipping is getting outrageous and the waiting  so close to her birthday becomes pretty intense.  Hopefully all will get here in time.

I have to say, thank goodness it's the weekend.  Doodle is busier than ever these days and I feel like I'm running a bit behind.  Hurry up April!!  lol  Luckily for me, Shane pretty much had the day off and Doodle kept him quite busy.  As of late, she's all about time with Dad.  lol  Admittedly, I'm completely okay with that for now!

Now off to get the monster to bed.  Another day in the life of Doodle coming to a close.  Goodnight and sleep tight!!

First post!

Happy Thursday!  I am hoping this will be a good way to keep everyone, friends and family, up to date with all the day to day craziness that we have going on these days!  A lot is changing and will be getting pretty hectic in the coming months so please bare with me!  I will keep this as up to date as possible.  :D  Welcome to our crazy!