The Smoothest PCS There Ever Was

We've been settled here in SoCal for an entire month and a half. Apologies for the lack of updates. Although if you follow us on Instagram or Snapchat you know we made it here safe and sound. I gotta say, for all my hemming and hawing over the move the weeks leading up to our PCS a month ago, it was THE SMOOTHEST PCS THERE EVER WAS. Everything fell into place at the very last minute such that we couldn't have planned it any better ourselves. 

The two biggest sources of stress were: (a) the movers weren't scheduled until the very last minute and (b) we didn't have a place to live at our destination. We expected that our things would be in temporary storage for at least six weeks, and maybe even up to six months if we decided to play the waiting game for a house on base (our original plan). The rental market during PCS season in the tiny town nearest to the base moves so very fast and our attempts at securing a rental off base before the move were very, very frustrating/unsuccessful. Postpartum hormones + moving uncertainty made me a real fun lady to be around, let me tell ya.

The movers told us, oh a week and a half ahead of time, that they'd be coming the day after our scheduled departure (no bueno). But like I said, it ended up working out perfectly. The kids and I flew out on a Monday, so I scheduled us to view a house first thing in the morning on a Tuesday. The first and only house I saw was sufficient (and way under BAH to boot), so I took it and put down a deposit right then and there, so that I could tell the movers where the destination was. The lease was signed by Friday.

AND THEN GET THIS. …

The movers came on Saturday.

Here were are overjoyed to greet them.

So we only did a week in TLF (temporary lodging on base) with the kids and our stuff didn't have to go into temporary storage at all.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE. …

Not a-one thing was missing or damaged in the move. (I've heard too many horror stories to even recount.)

Will and his dad made the four-day drive and arrived the following Monday evening with the rest of our things. So the moving truck actually arrived before Will did, who was pulling a trailer full of designated "important" things - like the vacuum cleaner, washer/dryer, and kids' cribs. Waiting on that stuff was the only real hiccup of the move, but my mother-in-law and I were able to do a ton of unpacking over the weekend.

So Edwards Air Force Base.

It is really remote.

They like to say, "It's in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of everything."

Lots of sonic booms.

Everyone has an RV.

My lips are forever chapped.

BUT, drive a couple hours in any direction and you are somewhere amazing. Like here:

(Santa Monica Pier.)

We've made it to the coast a couple of times so far.

During the week, the kids and I have settled into an easy little routine. Our life is basically gym-Costco-library or GCL for all you old Jersey Shore fans. (Admit you know the reference.) Pretty much every morning, we hit the YMCA about 20 minutes away toward civilization. Some days we hit up Costco next door afterwards. Zelie gets her morning nap in the car on the way home. I nurse her, we eat lunch, and then both kids go down for naps around 1-1:30. Then afternoons are either for hanging out at home (currently throwing puffs at Z while LW watches Netflix to finish up this post!!) or hitting up the library.

It's kind of nice to slow things down after ending up with so many commitments the past few weeks at Scott. The kids are thriving. Since getting settled, Little Will turned 2.5 and has suddenly potty trained and started being able to identify letters and colors (after SO MUCH STRUGGLE, seriously). And Zelie is 8 months old today! (Don't worry - photos have been taken and her eat sleep poop deets are forthcoming.) 

On Earthly Detachment (We Know Our Next Base)

So it's official as it's gonna get until we actually arrive on base and the powers that be tell us we're in the right place (as far as I'm concerned). 

We are moving tooooo . . .

. . . 

. . . 

Edwards AFB

(That's the little red blob IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MOJAVE DESERT.) 

Edwards is very isolated, about 30 minutes from the closest city. BUT! Year-round sunshine. Los Angeles is a 2 hour drive away, Las Vegas and San Diego are 3 hour drives away. And other cities like San Francisco and Phoenix are within reasonable driving distance. There will definitely be a lot to explore on the weekends. Not to mention we get to talk like The Californians. "Take the 40 down to the 405 and hit up Santa Monica, bruhhhhh!"

And if you are like me and have no idea where the Los Angeles really is on a US map, here you go:

Seems like a doable walk with the Duallie. 

It's definitely farther from family than we were hoping for. You know. We were hoping to move to the right on that map, but instead we're going wayyyyyy left. But we do have some west coast friends and family that can hopefully give us a warm welcome. And I'm hopeful that our desert locale means the kids will be less prone to contract runny noses and I'll be sucking out less boogers. 

Will also got the position he was hoping for, Area Defense Counsel (ADC), so it's an exciting career move for him. He'll be the boss of his very own little unit and get tons of really great trial experience. But back to the boogers. No one gets runny noses in the desert, right???? 

Some other good news is that we have actually been getting to know our new neighbors for a while now:

I've got lots of desert jokes. 

The move will take place sometime in July, which gives me approximately four months to KonMari the crap out of this house. We will definitely be downsizing in square footage and there's also a pretty good chance that we'll be spending a few months in temporary housing while we wait for a house to become available on base. So just when I'm ready to say all my stuff "sparks joy" - I'll get to say goodbye to it for an undetermined amount of time. 

My initial reaction is one of "EHHHH" (high-pitched, nasally whine), because who wants to be without their precious stuff for months, but then Colleen shared this quote in her post today: 

Oh, Christian poverty. How very poignant. 

I've always thought I'm pretty detached from all my stuff, bragging that I am basically a minimalist,  the one in our relationship that throws everything away. I barely shop and I'd be pretty darn happy wearing the same three outfits on rotation, I am soooo laid back, ermahgerd. And then you are faced with the proposition of actually doing without your precious King-sized bed, KitchenAid mixer, and random assortment of baby gear/furniture for a couple of months and you discover you are a big fat phony. I am a big fat phony. I am weak and I need a heck of a lot of grace to help me detach from earthly cares, St. Therese. Help me out, please?

So the thought of getting organized for a cross-country move is a little daunting. (Heaven help me if we ever go overseas! I'm exhausted just thinking about it.) And the clock is ticking to check off remaining items on our Scott AFB bucket list. (We still haven't been up to Chicago, etc.) We will miss St. Louis so much, but lots of pretty darn exciting times ahead. 

And we can't wait to meet our new neighbors! 

;) 

Latest & Greatest

My baby boy is TWO! We did it big with a mailman-themed Happy Birthday extravaganza. (AKA we invited three people over for cake.) Will's parents sent this HILARIOUS mailman get-up for his birthday, just in time for the little party. That mail carrier bag has seen all manner of vehicles . . . planes, trains, automobiles, you name it. It's not quite as beloved as his cowboy boots, but it has a special place in his heart, for sure.

He was pretty pumped for his b-day this year. He practiced blowing out candles leading up to the big day thanks to Advent. And we taught him the Happy Birthday Song through the whole month of January. He still bolts out a "Happy Bahhday, YAH YAHHH!" x 4 … blows air, "YAYYY" + claps every so often. 

All of his hard work definitely paid off. 

Those candles didn't stand a chance.

Hashtag fun fam!

Indulge me for a sec, because I really can't believe how old and big and smart he's getting. Every few days he'll really surprise me with something new he says or does. For example, he just started shouting "PANCAKES!!!!" every time we pass The Egg & I on 64. We love brunch. It's just odd because you really can't even see the building from the highway. In the same vein, he shouts "JESUS!!!!" every time he passes our church. (We have a Ordinary Time routine, okay?) 

He just started recognizing where we are when we drive around. He cries tears of agony every time we turn in the direction opposite of the base. Because he knows when we go on base we get to see airplanes, the occasional freight train, and, of course his favorite, his daddy. 

He's getting more serious with his toys and it kills me. 

When he wants to do something specific with his toys, he'll usually whine "HELP PEEEZ!!" and then just do it himself because he can. I really think he underestimates his own abilities sometimes and defaults to asking for help.

Toddlers, man. Keep you on your toes.

Hi Z.

Zelie's all, I'm bald!

Zelie turned two months old today. I'll have a full post that includes all your intricate poop deets, but I want to wait until after her checkup on Friday so I have her stats. She is still tall. (Pic above was from a couple weeks ago. And how cute is the bandit bib from Whole Parenting Goods? Obsessed.) 

You may have noticed I chopped all my hair off. I just finally had to take the plunge and get the mom lob. It was time. 

I had no idea that my cut and style would be free as a perk for donating. I was super pumped! And of course I haven't been able to get my hair to look as good as it does in the pic above, but c'est la vie, no? I could straighten my hair ALL DAY and nope.

Postpartum running is going well! I have been taking it slow. My longest run so far has been 3.66 miles on the treadmill. The weather is supposed to get really nice over the next few days, so hopefully I can hit the pavement with the duallie. I've managed to lose a couple more pounds, but I still have about 11 pounds to go to hit my pre-pregnancy weight. But I finally bought a pair of jeans that actually sort of fit, so I am in less of a hurry. 

Can't hang.

Lent is here! You may or may not have noticed I haven't been on social media much. Here's what I've been up to: 

• Deleted social media apps from my phone (Bloglovin', Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat). I can fire up the old MacBook to check Facebook or read blogs, but I generally don't because it. is. so. slow. I've been trying to especially limit time spent on my phone during the day when I am supposed to be parenting. So far, so good. So, so good. 
• I am working on the Blessed is She Lenten Workbook. I've been loving the journaling. (Big surprise right? I mean I do have this crazy blog.)
• I've been limiting processed sugar. I say limiting because I am breastfeeding and stopping my nightly chocolate milkshake is a big freaking deal for me. 
• Less screen time for Little Will. It got out of hand there for a while. I'm feeling like I have much more energy lately to get out of the house and/or figure out things to do with Will at home, so it's been a lot easier to implement this. 
• We are donating a portion of our tax refund.

I did a bad thing and tried to bring both children to Ash Wednesday mass by myself on base. It made this bad morning look like child's play. My first mistake was going to a different parish than our usual so that we could attend a full mass that didn't interfere with meal times or naps. We arrived early because it was snowing and I wanted to make sure I got a parking spot close to the building. Little Will was unusually hyper waiving and yelling "HIII" to everyone who walked in as the unofficial greeter. Once mass started, he didn't want to stay in the pew, which is normal, but when I took him out to the vestibule, he screamed his head off. Nothing would console him. I had Zelie in the Moby wrap because I knew I'd be in and out of the pew with Little Will. ANYWAY, once the meltdown of all meltdowns occurred a whopping five minutes into mass, I decided that we just needed to leave. WELL, I had to go back into the church get my bag. We slowly and quietly creep back in as not to be any more of a disturbance. At which point Little Will ran up the center aisle and bum rushed the priest as he gave the homily, yelling "HIIIII!" and waiving. I grabbed my bag and power walked toward the front. A parishioner grabbed Little Will and pointed him back toward me. At which point I made awkward eye contact with a gentleman who I'm sure was at least an O-6, probably a four-star general because that's what happens. Zelie's head was bouncing around in the Moby, pretty unsecured, while I make the looooong walk of shame down the aisle out of the church. More melting down while I buckle poor little sis into her car seat and we slowly make our way outside into the snowy white abyss.

So I guess what I'm saying is Lent started off with a bang. Just trying to make things extra penitential around here.

I promise the transition from 1 to 2 has still been pretty smooth! We've just had a few … moments.

Last, but not least, you may remember back in October when I blogged about how we would soon be getting our next base assignment. Well, that notification got pushed back to February. We waited and waited and waited as Will's colleagues got the news. And finally, today, we got the "unofficial" news of where we'll be living come July. Hint: it's NOT in the direction we were trying to go (East).  I won't jinx it by disclosing it here, but as soon as we get official orders (in a couple more months), you'll be the first to know. ;) 

The Wheel of Where

^^Little Will gazes out over the St. Louis skyscrape, pondering where the Air Force will send us next. Kidding. I think he was taking a break from running around in circles around the steel poles separating areas of the stadium. You know. The ones sprouting out of the concrete. Everyone in the vicinity suffered multiple heart attacks that day. … 

Unlike last time, I haven't been obsessing over the imminent news of where the Air Force will send us next. My brain has just been too busy with other things, which, in my case, is good, because I will obsess and overanalyze amidst all the uncertainty. 

For the record, last time we got the call on a Wednesday afternoon, soooo don't mind me nervously checking my phone every Wednesday. See. I'm doing it again already.

We think we'll PCS again in July 2016. Little Will will be 2.5 and Zelie will be 8 months old. For a while we thought we might be going in January, right around the two-year mark since we've been in St. Louis, but as September came and passed without any news, we are thinking that's pretty unlikely. Three months just isn't enough notice, but—it's the military—I guess you never know. 

When we found out we were moving to St. Louis, it was not on our radar at all. We had never heard of Scott Air Force Base, nor did we really even know where St. Louis was. The entire Midwest was just a big blob to the left in the map in our minds. I'm sorry to admit it. We were geo-centric East Coasters all the way. The Air Force lets you submit a "preference list" of bases or geographical areas where you'd like to go. Obviously, it's just a list of "suggestions" for the higher-ups, and we didn't get assigned a base from our list the first time around. Nevertheless, many of Will's JAG friends have gotten assignments from their lists for their second assignments, so we are allowing ourselves to be a teensy bit hopeful. Our preference list is as follows (and if any of these bases suck, keep it to yourself because it's obviously too late to change anything):

1 - Andrews - ADC (DC Area)

2 - MacDill - ADC (Tampa, FL)

3 - Fort Meade - ADC (DC Area)

4 - Charleston - ADC 

5 - That one base in NC - ADC 

6 - That other base in NC  - ADC 

7 - Dover - ADC (Delaware) 

8 - Langley Eustis - ADC (Virginia)

9 - England/Germany 

10 - England/Germany 

This list is the result of brainstorming from both of us. Not very impressive as we clearly can't remember the details. BUT, we are definitely vying for East Coast near family where we could possibly buy a house, or, you know, a little European jaunt. Why not. 

Will hopes to switch from prosecution to defense counsel (i.e., Area Defense Counsel or "ADC") at his next assignment. They put the more experienced attorneys on the defense side because it's a bigger deal if they screw it up. His hope to be ADC I think narrows down the possibilities (largely based on rumors … all rumors with PCS-news season … all the time), including Tampa and Charleston. 

The rumors that we've heard regarding PCSing include: "a friend of a friend of a girl I knew at JAG School tried to request an additional year at his base and was told everything was 'already penciled in'", "a coworker heard that so-and-so talked with JAX [the headquarters making assignments] but nothing official yet", and "so-and-so heard that JAX called to 'verify" whether so-and-so would take this assignment." 

So basically I know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.  

With both of us preparing for upcoming trials, taking care of the toddler, and the impending birth of our second baby, we are more than a little preoccupied, but it's still exciting knowing that news of where we'll be living next could be coming any day now. That we are still excited about the prospect of packing up all our possessions and starting over in a new house is a good sign, I think. 

And despite our initial "WTF!??!" last time … 

St. Louis has been good to us. 

I will keep you apprised of any developments!

TDY Cheaters

TDYs are the worst. TDY = Temporary Duty . . . one of the few military acronyms I actually know. I went to a neighborhood playdate with other military spouses and I was definitely the only mom who missed the memo with all the acronyms. 

Neither here nor there!

TDYs seem to be especially horrendous when they are more than two weeks. Something about remaining under the two week mark makes them much more reasonable. Will has been gone for a little over a week. For what it's worth, I'd 100 times over take a long TDY third trimester with a toddler (who's a good sleeper!) than fourth trimester with a newborn (who's a bad sleeper). Any day. But it's still been a rough go to spend all your waking hours with an irrational little human. 

Our demeanors, 65% of the time. PS - find us on snapchat: theresabreslin.

The TDY is one of the pinnacles of "motherhood martyrdom." I have yet to experience a deployment, but at least then you feel lots of concern and sympathy for your spouse, who will typically be working exceptionally long hours in uncomfortable quarters in dangerous locations, etc. etc. But the TDY. At least in my experience, it means short days of lectures/exercises, plenty of "team-building" (e.g., ultimate frisbee, barbecues, and drinks out) with various colleagues, and lots of Netflix streaming. And if you're lucky, an absurd amount of FaceTiming with your wife ;) It is really easy to let yourself feel resentful if you're not careful and grounded. By staying grounded I mean stress eating pumpkin muffins obviously.

But that's beside the point, because we're cheating this time. Yep, little Will is going to daycare all week. 

The Child Development Center (aka the CDC - sad choice of acronym) has hourly care available if a classroom slot is open. It's a fantastic option at only $5 per hour, plus it's an environment with which Will is already very familiar as it's where he went full-time from 12 months to 18 months old. I knew I would probably need this option if I wanted to get any work done from home. (I really did have more energy for it when Will was an infant - go figure.) So, I called the CDC on Friday to see if they had any open slots for the next two weeks and ...

Nope. 

But then later that day I got a call telling me that Monday and Tuesday had opened up. I just had to gather some new paperwork and he'd be all set.

And thennnn . . . 

Yesterday morning after dropping him off I get a call that the rest of the week had opened up. If I took the whole week I would only pay the discounted weekly rate.

Well, twist my arm whydoncha?

So, William is currently at daycare, as he will be tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. I am able to furiously bill hours and hopefully get this project out of the way before tackling trial prep for my pro bono case. (Oh, have I not mentioned that I have a federal pro bono trial scheduled for when I'm 35.5 weeks pregnant? No? Let me remedy that now. I have a federal trial for which I am sole counsel scheduled one month before my due date. Hooray!) And then after that maybe I can tackle prep for the next little human that will join our family. 

One thing at a time. 

Wisconsin, America's Dairyland: A Photo Dump

This week little Will and I got to accompany husband Will on a recruiting trip to Wisconsin. Basically, the USAF paid for gas and the hotels, so why not take the opportunity for a little family time? We loaded up the car Monday afternoon and headed north. Neither of us really knew anything about Wisconsin going into it, so color us surprised that we ended up having a really great time. Wisconsin is a pretty cool place that we definitely wouldn't have made the effort to visit otherwise. The following is a photo dump documenting our trip, so scroll and skim as you wish.

Madison

We arrived in Madison Monday night, and after checking into our hotel, we headed downtown to a local spot called Graze. 

And experienced cheese curds for the first time. Heaven.

While little Will HATES (I mean . . . HATES) the carseat, he otherwise does really well with all other aspects of travel. Here he is fresh and fancy-free after a great night's sleep in the hotel. 

Will had to speak at the UW ROTC detachment Tuesday morning and then conduct informational interviews at the law school all afternoon, so little Will and I headed to the zoo. 

I dressed little Will up in his monkey outfit and took pictures of him with the gorilla.

I should really be stopped. 

But I won't. Never.

Mr. Gorilla gave us the cold shoulder, which is fine because . . .

We were walking away from the lion's den, just the two of us, when we heard loud roaring. I thought it was fake. Maybe it was a recording indicating they were about to feed the lion or something, I don't know, but I decided to turn around and walk back. Lo and behold . . .

It was the real life lion all like, Hey get back here. 

Staring at us so intently, she was literally fogging up the glass.

This was definitely one of those amazing memories I'll have where I experienced something cool just because I was with my kid. I mean, there's no way I would have been at a friggin' zoo if I wasn't with little Will. And he won't even remember it. But I got to hang out with a lion, just because I was hanging out with my baby. Priceless memories, people. I also met up with some Internet friends from this forum, so I should probably also be thanking Mary Clare and Heather, because they're the ones to suggest a zoo visit.

After the zoo and lunch, we were kind of just killing time. I walked and walked and walked all around campus. (The zoo is right next to the campus, so we walked everywhere. Including up this GIANT hill that overlooks the water. Yeah, a lake. I didn't know there was a lake in Madison, WI either.) Will and I hung out in the law school lobby for a bit while we waited so he could crawl around, you know, without eating dirt or grass or cigarette butts. I just kept thinking to myself how very different my life is since was the last time I set foot in a law school. Over here lugging around 20 pounds of books rather than 20 pounds of baby. 

The campus Mall is right outside the law school. Thus, a UW selfie:

"Go badgas."

Little Will even picked me this lush bouquet. Ever the thoughtful son.

He later tried to eat it. 

When Will was finally finished with interviews, we headed out to dinner at the Ale Asylum Brewery (obsessed with their Belgian Style Ale called "Kink") and then set our sights toward Milwaukee.

Man in uniform carrying a chunky baby. A very attractive combo, if I may say so myself.

Milwaukee

Just your typical classy drive-by stadium pic:

Will again had informational interviews at the Marquette campus. And, once again, little Will and I had lots of time to kill. Luckily, there are plenty of places to get your Catholic nerd on at Marquette. We started at the Church of the Gesu. We couldn't get into the upper church, but judging by the lower church, I'm sure it's amazing. We hit up confession, my first one with little Will strapped to me, who started waking up just as soon as I kneeled. Quite possibly the quickest confession I've ever had. I then tried my hardest to get into the upper church, but found that every door was locked, and I just went to confession, so I wasn't trying to do some breaking and entering. Maybe next time . . . before confession.

We went to Starbucks for a PSL because white girls in the Fall cannot be stopped.

There were obviously a couple Marquette selfie fails:

And then we ran into Blessed Mother Teresa while we waited for the St. Joan of Arc Chapel to open. I was like Mother Teresa, I am also mother Theresa. Pleased to meet you.

She didn't think my joke was funny.

Then we made it inside the St. Joan of Arc Chapel. It's a medieval chapel that was transported from France by way of Long Island and reconstructed on campus.

Then there were more cute baby on campus in the Fall pics to be taken. What can I say?

We ended our Milwaukee visit in Bayview (I think what the area is called---I just follow wherever Yelp! takes me) at a little restaurant called Cafe Lulu, where, naturally, we tried more local beer!

This one's for Tess. 

After dinner, I got a milkshake at a little ice cream shop across the street and had the best whipped cream I've ever tasted. I'll never be able to enjoy any other kind of whipped cream ever again.

Then we drove the 6 hours back home.

The end.