USMC Ball 2011

this past saturday chris escorted me to the ball for the 236th USMC birthday.  this was our 10th ball together and we had a great night out (thanks, amy, for the help with anabelle) celebrating with the red devils!

you never quite know what to expect with the dinner so we always go out for a yummy lunch (just in case).  this year we went to five guys for a tasty burger.  then anabelle and chris went down to the boardwalk in pacific beach while i got my hair and makeup done.  everyone had a great time – other than one busted lip.  chris says she recovered really quick though.  ah, the life of a toddler.

*dinner was surprisingly tasty!

here we are, all dressed up and ready to go!

on our way

loved my fabulous hair and sassy makeup (thanks, christal!)

lucky me!

time to dance

                          

                          

a quick change to some cozy clothes for the drive home – the dd needs to be comfy, right?!

 besides going out for lunch, we have two other USMC ball traditions.  chris doesn’t see my dress until it’s time to go (a fun surprise) and he always takes my hair down for me once we get home.  this year he guessed 35 bobby pins.  once he was all done, i think he counted 52!

. . . and then the shock of my hair the next morning, ahh! 

this seat fits just right

a little bit of a splurge but i’m so glad i got it!

land of nod was having a sale so i decided to get anabelle her very own chair.  she’s so cute climbing up in it . . .

even flipping it over (nice form, little one!)

if you’re not familiar with land of nod, you should check it out.  it’s the baby/kid line from crate & barrel.  so many sweet things – a little less fussy, clean lines, great ideas!

a few more CT pics

I also found more CT pics – here we are at the library.  they had an entire floor for the kids.  anabelle had a good time playing with the velcro wall.

                  

                  

she has started using more signs over the last couple weeks and is pretty confident with her jibber jabber chat.  the flights were easy and the trip home might have been the best so far.  I’m rather impressed with how she does but will admit that I’m ready for a bit of a break from traveling.  I’m thankful that our next flight (Key west in december) will be with chris.

on our way to CT I did encounter my first look of confusion when I was nursing anabelle while we waited for our flight from dallas.  anabelle was under the nursing cover so all you could see were her little feet.  a young grandmother came and sat close to us.  she started talking to me about going to visit her new grandson who is 3 months old and then asked “how old is your baby?”  “15 months” I replied.  *insert look of confusion here!  she seemed pretty stumped and not sure what to say next.  “yep, we’re still going!” – that’s all I could think of.  oh well, we’re happy about it.

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anabelle tried calling papa from mia’s hello kitty phone but it didn’t get very good reception.

sweet hugs – mia & suzie

suzie & titus were singing songs for the girls

daddy got mia dressed in the mismatched polka dots – add a cape & bow and you’re all set!

giggles with aunt suzie and all the babies

the girls in their matching pj’s and slippers.

thanks for the visit suz.  it was so great to spend time with you and your sweet fam.  I miss you!

more from halloween

 

i found a few more pics and on my phone from halloween that i felt like posting. 

anabelle has a word video she likes to watch and has been enjoying her new chair.  it has been fun (and fascinating) to see her learn as she watches.  in the middle you can see her sticking out her tongue – the video is showing an antelope eating leaves from a tree, grabbing them with its tongue.

making our way through the neighborhood.

anabelle knows where her toes, belly button, mouth, and nose are now . . . well, most of the time.  sometimes nose is eyes, ha.  this is what i get when i lean in and say ‘noses’.

halloween 2010 – seems so long ago, but like it was just yesterday.

alright, thanksgiving here we come!

so proud!

on november 1, 2011

christopher p. allain was promoted to the rank of major in the united states marine corps

wait, what?!  isn’t that something grown ups do?

chris and his commanding officer

he’s just not one for that super serious face.

chris asked colonel richie and i to pin on his new rank.

(we practiced the night before . . . stem out, oak leaf points in)

colonel richie is currently the base Co for miramar, but was chris’ CO when he was a green knight two tours ago.  I know he was glad to have him there.

taking the oath.

the skipper took a minute to say more nice things about chris and what a hard (but quiet) worker he is.

chris was saying a couple thank-you’s when anabelle decided to join him.

yah, muggy!

anabelle was pretty excited to find something with buttons to play with.

chris says it’s going to take him some time to get used to the change and to get his new title correct when he’s talking on the phone.  he’s a little bummed about no longer being a junior officer.  now he feels like he is ‘one of them’.  I know it’s a bit of a weird transition for him and he’s still 8 years old inside, but I know it will be good and he’ll find a way to make being ‘one of them’ pretty darn cool.

we’re so proud of you!

thanks amy for joining us and for taking pictures!

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we got to steal chris away for a few minutes afterwards so we walked down to the flightline coffee shop to enjoy some fresh air and listen to the jets.

   it really was nice to be a part of chris’ promotion and to have him to ourselves for a few extra minutes that day.

                    

halloween

this is a kettlebell.

we use them a lot in crossfit.  girls usually lift with a 1 pood kettlebell which is 16kg.

this is our anabelle kettlebell – just 1/2 pood.

we did a costume test run at our crossfit class monday morning.  it was a big hit!

the idea started as a joke.  we figured no one would really get it.  then we thought – man, those people that do get it will think it’s great.  so, we went with it.

i bought a simple pumpkin costume pattern and made it in black fleece.  i made up the handle for the hat and played around with coat hanger wire until i could get it to stand up straight.  i was pretty excited about how it all turned out.

   

hopefully by next halloween i have learned how to use my sewing machine.  stitching by hand just takes way longer than it needs to.  i’m feeling pretty confident about it – already have two sewing dates set up with a sweet friend, fun!  we’re going to work through cutie little projects for our girls.  next week – flannel pajama pants.

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monday evening we headed over to a friend’s to share some tasty food and take all the little ones trick-or-treating.  it was really fun to visit with other couples to see the kids’ eyes light up as everyone got ready to head out.  anabelle was just taking it all in.

alright, it’s trick-or-treat time.  let’s get changed.

chris and i didn’t dress up and ended up being the only ones without a costume (bummer!).  wish we would have had matching tracksuits on.  that could have been pretty funny.

adding a little crumpled tissue paper to give her a dash of plumpness.

there was so much excitement around – anabelle got a little unsure.

“momma, i don’t know about this”

having fun?  still undecided.

papa just scored a reese cup!  now off to the next house.

“ok, i think i’ve got this one”

she made it about 4 feet from the door, then froze.

always nice to have papa close by to help you out.

checking out the huge spider web

a spot opened up in the wagon when our friend’s son wanted to hang with his buddy.  that meant anabelle got to relax and enjoy an easy ride with her sweet friend, betsy.

happy girls!