the countdown begins

This morning I woke up feeling different. Not because we lost an hour asleep, but because the realization that we have only 3 weeks left in our very first home has set in. It's a bittersweet feeling. All of our "firsts" as newlyweds, parents, and a family have happened in this home. This has been the only home that our Paisley has ever known.  But boy are we excited for this upcoming move! Our first move to be exact. We knew that moving was a part of our military lifestyle, but holy moly did it come quick! At the beginning of April, we will be on our way to our new home near San Diego, California! 

This morning started off like every morning. The first thing I do when I wake up is make coffee. My husband and I are both HUGE coffee drinkers. One of our favorite moments is sitting down together early in the morning over a cup of coffee, especially before our baby girl is up. It's that brief moment before the days starts for us to talk about anything and everything. So far, those early morning coffee talks are the moments I miss most during deployments as well. My husband soon heads to base to start his day, and shortly afterwards, the little diva awakes. 

Now lets talk about picky eating toddlers for a second. Holy crap. It is like night and day with Paisley. One day she eats everything and anything I offer, and the next day she is totally okay with milk or juice and that's it and wants nothing else. I recently discovered, thanks to Nana-Banana (my Grandma, Paisley's Nana), that muffins are life. So far, Banana-nut and Lemon Poppyseed have been the ultimate winners. Thank heavens for this incredible discovery because I tend to stress when Paisley wants nothing to do with food. Here is a little preview of the mornings in the Metler household. 

Everyone knows how rambunctious toddlers can be. It's hard to get them to sit down and sit still. I couldn't get Paisley to sit down for a meal other than dinner so, I found that letting Paisley roam and wander during breakfast and lunch times, she tends to eat more of her meal. She honestly does a pretty good job with not making a mess either, which is very surprising because she's a tornado of energy and destruction. 

While she roams and wanders while eating her morning muffin, I attempt to catch up on work. Weather it's editing and retouching, blogging, updating my website and forms, answering inquiries, this is Mommas prime time. This is the best time for me to get a lot of work done. The cartoons are on, the chocolate milk is flowin', muffins are being munched, toys are being thrown, but hey, the toddler is happy, and that is all that matters. SCORE!

I took these photos because I wanted to remember what our mornings were like in our first home together. The feel of the breeze coming in through all the open windows, the smell of the desert after rain, the sound of cartoons playing in the background, the toddler using me as a human jungle gym as I am typing this sentence. Every single moment, right now, I want to take in and remember. I love it, and I am going to miss it. I am going to miss this place and all the memories inside. But we are so stinkin' excited for this next chapter of our lives, and the countdown begins.