Tickles and Tantrums

Big Brother

2012-02-06T07:43:00.001-05:00

Ever since Christmas Eve, we've had a steady stream of illness running through our house. I think we had a 3 day break between the Christmas illnesses (which had all 3 of us sick with different things) and this latest round. Geeze! So that's partly why I'm so behind on this blog. About 4 weeks ago I got sick with a cold that quickly spread to Justin and Parker 2 days before we left town... because of course, Parker ALWAYS gets sick 2 days before we leave town. I'm not complaining, just stating the facts.

We left for a 9 day trip to Colorado which included a week up at Breckenridge. Pictures are coming... maybe later today or tomorrow but for now, here's a glimpse of our cute kiddo sharing our big news with the all the Grandparents :)

Baby #2 is coming late July! I'm 16 weeks pregnant and still somewhat in shock that another baby is coming... but we're so excited and have been blessed with a much easier pregnancy this time around :)

January 29th - Reaction or Not

2012-01-31T08:31:00.001-05:00

I need to catch up on this blog with pictures of our trip to Colorado... but this is what my day looked like yesterday and why I haven't had time to do laundry much less blog.

(Click on the pictures for a close up view.)

Parker was so sick on Sunday and pale... so I was quite relieve to see the color had returned to his face when he woke yesterday... until I realized he had "color" all over! We rushed to the doctor's office who thinks this is a reaction to the antibiotics he was on but I'm starting to lean more towards Roseola especially with the extremely high fevers he was running Friday- Sunday. Yesterday morning he woke up with a 102 fever but a few hours later it was gone and the rash appeared. My poor kiddo. He was soooo cranky yesterday! Praying for a better day today.

Thursday, Jan 12th - Redecorating with Coffee

2012-01-14T08:41:00.001-05:00

We have a stovetop cappucino maker that we got as a wedding gift. We love it. The other night we learned what happens when the pressure valve fails/ruptures.

Yes, that would be coffee on the ceiling... as well as all over the cabinets, floor and walls. We'll be repainting portions of the kitchen one of these days as well as ordering a new valve for our machine.

Weekend Recap

2012-01-09T13:23:00.000-05:00

Changing crib sheets... where do I begin. I never would have expected it to be so challenging! Yet another thing the parenting book left out. After the last round of illness in our house, the crib sheet definitely needed changing so off came the bumper and out came the mattress. Parker decided to climb on the mattress and for the next 30 minutes was such a happy little boy as he climbed, bounced and played.

Pardon the blurr... he's a kid in motion and it's impossible sometimes to get a good photo. Anyway, he had fun... until this happened...

This winter has been wonderfully mild so Saturday we headed to the Boardwalk to enjoy the 63 degree weather.

Jan 5 - Daddy Got A Gun

2012-01-06T08:39:00.000-05:00

For a year we've talked about getting a gun. The problem was Justin and I disagreed on what type of gun to get (how many couples can say that!). For Christmas several relatives got together and gifted Justin was a shotgun. My dad got up at 3am on Black Friday to drive an hour away and get the gun (and yes, the sale really was worth getting up that early). The only problem was: How do we get the gun up here?

One of my friends just drove down to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl so she and her friends stopped by my parent's house and picked up the gun (along with all sorts of hunting gear) + my mom sent me a King Cake! Talk about a Southern style care package!

Parker immediately wanted to grab the gun. My son and my husband may not have been born in the South... but I'm doing my best to turn them in Southern Boys.

Jan 4th - Bundled Baby

2012-01-05T13:18:00.000-05:00

I think there's something adorable about a little kid wearing a coat that swallows them. Tuesday the temperature dropped to lows we haven't seen this winter. Since strapping in a baby with a big coat on is a hassle, I normally just give him a blanket and hustle into the store but these temperatures meant a coat was no longer optional. So yesterday morning when we headed out in the 20 something temps, I bundled my little boy up. So cute!

Dinnertime

2012-01-05T08:38:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, Justin was sitting at the table feeding Parker dinner when he started laughing.... and laughing. He claimed he finally had figured out what feeding a baby reminds him of:

Except according to him, in air refueling is MUCH easier than getting food into a baby!

Jan 2 - New Shoes

2012-01-03T12:06:00.000-05:00

So Justin and I still have our Rookie Parent moments. Yesterday was another one. I decided to stop at Stride Rite and get Parker's feet measured since it has been almost 4 months since we bought his shoes. Turns out he's been more than ready to go up a new shoe size... which would explain the rather damaged toe nails he's had the last few weeks :( Whoops. Apparently Stride Rite insoles can be removed and have a wear line so you know when your child's foot is getting mashed. I must have missed that chapter in the parenting books.

This picture explains my active little boy. He doesn't sit down to play with a toy. No no. He squats so that he can race off to the next activity quickly. Such energy.

New Year's Day

2012-01-02T10:14:00.000-05:00

We had a quiet New Year's Day here. Justin had duty New Year's Eve so he got home in time for us to get ready for church and make it there (only 3 minutes late this week!).

Parker is finally getting to the point of acknowledging books exist. Up until now, a book was just another thing that got thrown. Sigh. Such a boy. For Christmas my parents sent him this (rather loud) book that is a Sing-a-Long to "Joy To The World". He LOVES it!! He likes to stand on the book and dance (something he just started doing in the last week) while the music plays... another thing we're trying to teach him not to do. Again, such a boy. Here are a few pictures of him playing with the book on New Year's Day.

A New Year is Coming

2011-12-31T13:37:00.000-05:00

2011 is almost gone and I realize that this blog has been terribly neglected. I'm amazed how busy a 1 year old can keep me! It truly is amazing. I feel like I've done a terrible job this year sharing with you, our friends and family, our experiences during Rookie Parent Year. Looking towards 2012 I hope to improve this. We don't make New Year's Resolutions in our home but we do set goals and objectives for our coming year. So I've decided to combine 2 of my goals for the coming year:

1.) Do a better job sharing with you Parker's toddler years. And oh my... are they already shaping up to be quite entertaining.
2.) Start learning and experimenting with our camera... which of course would mean photos posted!

So stay tuned as we kick off 2012. I promise I'm going to try update you a couple of times each week!

7 Months & 8 Months

2011-09-26T08:11:00.000-04:00

I confess, I've been awful at keeping this blog updated. The last few months have been very busy but here is a brief photo recap of the last few months...

I got this splash mat from One Step Ahead... and it was PERFECT for Baby Boy this summer! He could sit and splash in the water, grab and the streams of water and enjoy the one of the best parts of summer... pooltime!

With Parker's mobility came the fun of discovering the laptop power cord. Since we have a MacBook, the power plug is magnetic which made for an easy toy. On this particular day he grabbed the cord and was across the room before I realized he had it!

I absolutely LOVED the upside down paci look. Total cuteness!

Expressing his displeasure at the enforcement of boundaries.

Enjoying a summer evening on the Boardwalk...

June's Trip

2011-06-28T15:02:00.000-04:00

At the start of the year, Justin and I sat down to discuss the future. New Year's Resolutions are so easy to forget but we did want to set goals (both personal and for our family) for 2011. One of our desires for our family was to take advantage of leaving on the East Coast and travel. Looking at our calendar for this year, we've probably gone a bit overboard but we're having fun.

So... June's trip was to Cincinnati to attend the wedding of one of Justin's friends. We were so blessed to be able to attend Chris and Amy's wedding and look forward to visiting with them more later this summer (that would be our August trip). Parker FINALLY cut his 1st tooth just a few days before we left so the weeks of fussiness ended and we got to enjoy a super happy baby during our trip :)

We had Parker out several night super late. Fortunately our boy LOVES to eat so we totally used food to keep him distracted. We went through way too many Gerber Puffs. I would say we're not winning any parenting competition... but have you been to Walmart lately? As long as the people of Walmart exist... we'll always be in the running for Parent's of the Year ;)

Anyway, back to our trip. The wedding was lovely, at least what I saw was lovely. Parker felt the need to compete for attention with the bride and groom while they were exchanging vows. We made a very hasty exit.

Justin was in the sword arch. Can I just say I love my man in his uniform. There is something about the dress whites... BUT they are a miserable uniform to keep clean... especially when you're trying to feed a baby. The reception didn't start until 7pm but Parker is use to dinner at 5:30. Justin ended up holding Parker while I fed him pumpkin. Are you getting a mental picture yet? Oh yes, I spent quite a bit of time scrubbing that uniform clean. Fortunately after 8 months of being a mommy... I'm a pro at getting stains out of clothes.

Easter 2011

2011-04-29T15:38:00.000-04:00

Growing up, each Easter morning I would wake to find a basket of goodies (normally waiting on my nightstand). We would go to church and afterwards there were the traditional "Easter" activities: dying eggs (nevermind that I can't stand hard boiled eggs), egg hunts and a special dinner.

When Justin and I were married (as does every married couple), we began discussing how to make each holiday our own. We've wrestled with how we will allow our kids to still partake in fun events like an egg hunt... but while separating it from Easter and making it clear that the Easter bunny has NOTHING to do with Easter. We haven't come to any conclusions... any suggestions are welcomed :) Since Parker is so little this year, I made up a basket of goodies for him and one for Justin. Parker definitely loves finding new toys to stick in his mouth! He's at that stage where EVERYTHING goes in his mouth! Ha.

Gerber Puffs & his new toy ball...

He has started making so many faces at us! I love this face! It's as if he's saying "What? Is that all I get?"

Leaving for Easter service! He was in a great mood so instead of screaming straight through service, he played (relatively) quietly and I got to hear the sermon for the first time in 2 months!

Family Photos

2011-04-26T16:49:00.000-04:00

I don't consider myself a sentimental person... but compared to my husband, I'm big time sentimental. I have no problem "purging" earthly possessions from our house (a skill that gets refined more with each military move) BUT the one thing that is important to me is photos. I enjoy looking back at photos and remember that day. Honestly, if it weren't for me taking photos, there would be almost no pictures taken (I'm sure most wives out there are saying AMEN!).

A few years ago we bought a nice camera with the intention of no longer needing to go to a studio... little did I know how a active baby would change things. Parker is at the stage where he is ALL OVER the place. He is so curious and easily distracted.... using the tripod to take our own family picture isn't feasible. SO... on Baby Boy's 6 month birthday we went to have family pictures taken. Looking at a picture of our family reminds me of how truly blessed I am.

My 6 month old Baby. I can't believe 6 months have already passed!

Whew! Getting your picture taken is exhausting...

Exploring Spring

2011-04-10T12:14:00.000-04:00

As the weather has started to warm up and we've been able to visit the park, it has become obvious to us that Parker is an outdoor baby. I wish the weather would stop fluctuating so much so that we could get out more consistently... but we were able to go for walks 3 days this week and he is so happy just sitting in his stroller and taking it all in. He actually gets fussy if the afternoon comes and we haven't gone outside! Ha.

He was captivated by the sound coming from the reeds as the gentle wind blew.

I'm so thankful for all the parks near where we live... and for friends to walk with.

Parker's 1st time in the swing... and he LOVED it!

Picture Post- Washington DC

2011-04-05T09:40:00.000-04:00

The last 2 weeks of March brought us 2 weeks of family visits. The day my parents arrived, Justin came home from work sick... and I mean sick. He ran a really high fever for 7 days. Boo. The next day I came down with pink eye and Parker came down with a cold. We were all more or less healthy by the following week when we headed to Washington D.C.... but then I got sick in DC and now Justin is sick again. We're soooo ready for spring.

The weather has been unseasonably cool but it was so nice to see the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin in full bloom. So beautiful. Parker proved that he travels sooo well. He absolutely loves the Baby Bjorn and so happy when we carried him in it. He is such a social baby and I think he likes it so much because it allows him to be closer to eye level with people and interact (read: flirt) with them.

Parker turned 5 months old while we were in DC. I can't believe 5 months have already passed! We started him on cereal right before the trip but I think all the stimulation of sight seeing all day left him too tired to eat. We suspended cereal until we got home... and now he's sleeping most of the night! Woohoo! We're finally getting sleep in our house again.

I love his face in this picture... just hanging out.

Cherry Blossoms

We have no idea what was going on... but we're assuming Marine 1 was practicing it's approach to the White House since we watched them fly back and forth at least 6 times. Love this photo.

My guys :) Parker decided as we were going through the American History museum that it was time to jump so Justin took over jumping responsibilities. (Jumping is when you hold him upright and he literally jumps on your lap for 5-10 minutes each time. Now that he's stronger we let him do most of the work and just stabilize him.)

You deserve your own home! Um... no thanks. Love the retro picture though...

The Office of Thrift Supervision... with patio furniture on each level. Does it strike anyone else as ironic? I mean, when I think of thrift, Washington isn't one of the things that comes to mind. Just saying...

Parker with Uncle Stephen and Aunty Donna...

Parker with his Papaw and Memaw.

Bad Mommy Moment

2011-03-12T07:27:00.000-05:00

Nobody in our house has gotten sleep the last 2 weeks. All the sudden a switch flipped in Parker and we started getting up 8-10/night. I knew he wasn't hungry so I would normally just give him swaddle him again, give him his paci, stroke his head and let him go back to sleep. 30 minutes later we were repeating.

I thought the problem was teething but last week when he ran a 102.5 fever, I moved up his 4 month appt and we went in. The doctor figured it was probably just a virus. His right ear was a little pink but Parker was screaming at the time so we just chalked it up to increased blood flow. Besides, ear infections (apparently) normally have upper respiratory symptoms).

Fast forward a week. We're getting even less sleep. Justin and I are completely disagreeing over how to handle this. I'm completely exhausted and since I can't be mad at my baby... I'm just looking for a reason to snap at anyone. He's not nursing well AT ALL. Not sleeping well and super fussy/whiny. Finally Thursday afternoon he starts to run another fever and he starts sounding congested. Back to the doctor we go only to find out he does in fact have an ear infection... and he had only gained 1 oz in 9 days since he was eating so little. Sigh.

Now we really feel lousy for letting him cry all those nights convinced he was just developing bad sleeping skills and we needed to break the habit. Truly a bad mommy moment...

A Tour of the Nursery

2011-03-07T08:35:00.000-05:00

When Parker was first born, I loved having him sleep in our room right next to the bed. This precious little baby that we had waited so long for... who had the cutest cry and who filled me with energy when I saw him in the morning.

4 months later... that cry isn't so cute at 2am or 3am... or any other wee hour of the morning and my morning energy comes from half a pot of coffee. Haha. So Parker was shown the door... to his nursery.

For about 2 months, we've been putting Parker in his crib for naptime but he was still sleeping in our room at night in a Pack-N-Play. Last Sunday that ended. Sleep deprivation motivated me to move him down the hall into his nursery. I wish I could say we're letting him "cry it out" at night and that he's sleeping like a champ... boy do I wish I could say that after last night. Unfortunately my sleeping champ baby no longer goes 7 hour stretches. Right now we're lucky to get 4 hour stretches BUT I'm proud that we've transitioned Parker to his room and reclaimed our room!

Since we moved here a few weeks before he was born, his nursery was never completely finished. I was just too big, swollen and tired to finish it. The final piece to his nursery that I've been waiting for was a glider. I got a fantastic wooden glider but I love having that downstairs... so we bought another glider for his room.

Here's Parker's nursery...

We hung the planes over his crib in lieu of a mobile.

The plane on the left I bought months before I found out I was pregnant with Parker.

I loved this PotteryBarn Kids crib bedding but struggled with how much it costs. About 2 weeks after we packed out, it was placed on clearance for 1/2 price! Yay! I love the colors and how simple yet fun it is.

I picked up this metal sign as we traveled cross country.

His closet is HUGE! Such a blessing since they go through so many clothes sizes the first year...

A friend gave me this print at my baby shower... and it goes PERFECT with his nursery!

I need to paint some polka dots or something on this shelf to tie the glider in (since it's a different shade of blue). I love this glider and choose a color that I could easily place in a girl's nursery if the Lord blesses us with a little girl.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-23T20:00:00.000-05:00

My baby is 4 months old today! What an amazing 4 months we've had.

Parker has discovered just how yummy his fingers are...

I love his eyes! When I was pregnant I had hoped Parker would get Justin's eyes... and he did.

He Said WHAT?! - Parker Edition #1

2011-02-21T18:50:00.000-05:00

As Justin gave Parker his paci... "Parker, we need to have a talk about idolatry".

Sigh.

Spring Teaser

2011-02-18T22:12:00.000-05:00

Growing up in South Louisiana, I heard of these mythical events known as seasons. I heard of them but never got a chance to experience them because where I grew up, there were only 2 seasons: Hot and REALLY Hot. When I moved to Virginia in 2006 I was unpleasantly surprised to climb off the plane on December 12th and discover it was REALLY cold. Turns out seasons aren't a myth. They really exist... and the middle of winter was an interesting introduction.

When we moved to California, the leaves were just starting to change colors and the crisp autumn air had arrived. I was so upset to miss out on the fall. In my several years living in Virginia I had grown to love the seasons and the change that each one offers. I love the summer, the beach, the warmth of the sun, summer evenings BBQ'ing and the fun times that come with the summer.... but after a while, the heat gets old. By the time I'm growing weary of the summer heat, fall comes. Crisp air, beautiful colors, a different wardrobe, the smell of spiced goodies baking in the kitchen and leaves crunching under your feet as you walk. Eventually winter sets in and with it comes Sunday afternoons curled up on the couch with my favorite sweatshirt, a warm blanket, cup of hot chocolate and the fire place going. This winter also brought a fair amount of snow and while I love the cold air, wearing scarves, and family time inside... eventually that also starts to get old.

That's where I've been stuck the last few weeks. The sun will be shining so brightly and I open the door expecting warm air and with the hope that Parker and I will be able to go for a walk... only to have a 40 degree wall of coldness assault me. Ugh.

A few days ago as I looked at the forecast for the coming days I noticed a warming trend. Temperatures in the 60's and 70's.... spring! Now understand, the weathermen/women/computers/etc. have failed miserably in their weather forecasting this year. 3-4 inches of snow ended up being 12-14 inches... a dusting to 1" accumulation ended up being 4+ inches... no snow turned into 3+ inches. Like I said miserably and yet, when I saw this forecast I couldn't help be excited. I placed a call to my hubby letting him know that he would be expected home early on Friday so we could go to the park. Today arrived and when I opened the door to see what the weather was... nothing. By nothing I mean neither cold nor warmth met me. The temperature was perfect.

So off to the park we went. Parker has started staring at his surroundings as he's pushed around and I love watching him stare in amazement. Yes cold weather will be back in a few days but for today, we enjoyed a spring teaser.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-17T10:35:00.000-05:00

Do you think he was hungry?

Back Blogging

2011-02-15T16:41:00.001-05:00

To say I've fallen off the blog bandwagon would be an understatement. Unfortunately this year's cold/flu season has not been kind to our household and the past month, Justin and I have both been fighting the latest respiratory bug going around. I caught it and ended up with a nasty sinus infection... 3 rounds of antibiotics and 1 round of prednisone later and I was recovering when Justin came down with it. Ugh. We're thankful that every bug I have caught first and therefore Parker has been protected by my antibodies.

On top of that, the Mac went squirrely and had to been wiped out and restored about 2 weeks ago... it's still not done. Ugh (again). Hoping to get the last of it smoothed out and reloaded. Since that's our only computer... there were a few days on being unplugged.

So that's my excuses... but the other reason is more complex and I'm struggling to find a balance. Parker has become so interactive and when he's awake, he wants my attention and I want to give it to him! I love getting to play with him and be a witness to his daily exploration of his surroundings. I feel guilty if I have to run an errand during his "play time" between naps, so I normally just let him play. When he's asleep... well there's always a list of chores or errands that need to be done or friends I want to call. I'm struggling to find a balance. SO, I've decided to try something new... each evening I'm going to try and set aside 15 minutes for blogging. Our family and friends are always wondering what new things Parker is doing and since he's doing so many... I feel like I just draw a huge blank when asked that question. I want to remember these days and share them with you... so here goes...

Homemade Granola Bars

2011-01-30T08:19:00.001-05:00

During my pregnancy with Parker, I would wake up most nights in the wee hours of the morning so hungry. I got in the habit of keeping granola bars in my nightstand (chewy of course because otherwise it would leave crumbs in the bed) so I wouldn't have to get up when the hunger struck.

Now that I'm nursing I've discovered how important it is to keep food in the diaper bag for me (since Parker doesn't tolerate me eating fast food very well). Twice each month I would make my grocery store run and buy 3 boxes of granola bars. Yes... I can go through 5-6 boxes of granola bars each month but in my defense, there's only 5 little 1 oz bars in each box. I decided to try and make my own granola bars full of good healthy grains. They came out so wonderfully! I love them and they aren't as sweet as the store bought ones. Best part, they're a fraction of the price. Happy baking!

Granola Bars

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

½ cup raw sunflower seeds

1 cup sliced almonds

½ cup flax seeds (you can substitute wheat germ or oat bran)

½ cup honey

¼ cup packed dark brown sugar

2 Tbsp butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp kosher salt

6 oz of dried fruit

Directions

Butter a 9x9 glass baking dish.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds and flax seeds on a sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes.

Combine honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract and salt in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook until the brown sugar dissolves.

Once the oat mixture is done, reduce the oven heat to 300 degrees.

Add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit and stir. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down evenly. Bake for 25 minutes.

Allow to cool most of the way before cutting into bars (if they cool all the way they’ll be really hard to cut)… but don’t try to remove them from the pan until completely cooled.

Christmas Town

2011-01-11T14:51:00.000-05:00

I love Christmas lights and driving around seeing houses all decorated for Christmas. When I was a little, everyone (or at least it seemed that everyone) decorated their houses... everywhere we drove, we saw Christmas lights. Not so much anymore. So when I heard that Busch Gardens decorated for Christmas... I was eager to go see it. Maybe it's because this was Parker's 1st Christmas... maybe it's just the romantic side of me... but I wanted this Christmas to be magical.

So on December 30th we went up to Busch Gardens to see Christmas Town... and I'm so glad we did! It was fantastic!

Each country was decorated with a different color. This was Ireland. The snow from the latest snow storm was still on the ground which allowed the lights to reflect off making everything bright and... well... magical. Parker LOVED all the lights! I had him in the Moby Wrap so he was warm and snug and totally captivated by all the new sights.

My mom, Parker and I... well, Parker isn't visible but he's there enjoying his dinner ;)

Italy was decorated in white lights and angels. You can't really tell from the pictures but all the lights on the hillside our Christmas trees. The view was beautiful... and most of the water was frozen which is why the light reflection looks the way it does.

They had Christmas carolers and other performers in each country... but the best part was the music. There was no "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town" or "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer"... it was Christmas Carols. Yes, they actually sang about the real meaning of Christmas... Christ's birth! It was fantastic! By the way, notice the snow. This was 5 days after the snow storm!

Parker's 1st Christmas was more wonderful and magical than I had hoped. We are so blessed and absolutely loving life as a family of 3!

Baby's 1st Christmas

2011-01-07T17:08:00.001-05:00

My head is swimming with everything that has happened since my last update 3 weeks ago. How have 3 weeks passed so quickly?!?

Parker's first Christmas was wonderful. For years I've wondered when we would get to celebrate "Baby's 1st Christmas". Last Christmas was especially hard on the heals of the miscarriage. This year was a dream. I feel so blessed! Justin had duty on Christmas day... let me rephrase that... Justin VOLUNTEERED for Christmas Day duty (24 hour duty). He told me back in October, about 5 hours before we were leaving for the hospital to begin the induction.

(INSERT DRAMATIC PAUSE)

No, he didn't run it by me before he volunteered. Fortunately for both of us, he told me at the car dealership while we were waiting for the van to be repaired. Good for him because I couldn't hurt him... good for me because it forced me to control the emotions/hormones that I probably wouldn't have attempted to control had we been at home. It took me 15 minutes to get over and I think I deserve a huge amount of applause for managing to get over this lapse in judgement so quickly considering I was 41 weeks pregnant and to say I was "hormonal" would be a massive understatement. So Parker and I spent Christmas Day on base with him. Our best friends prepared a Christmas dinner picnic basket for us that I picked up and took with me. We watched movies and changed a steady stream of diapers before I headed home since the snow was starting to fall. By that night it looked like this

At 4am I woke up to feed Parker but wasn't feeling that great. I managed to get him back down but I wasn't able to fall back asleep I was feeling so poorly. By 6am the full wrath of the stomach flu struck. Over the next few hours I did a lot of praying for strength as I was alone with a baby he wanted to play and snuggle but I couldn't even sit up ... even having to stop nursing to run for the bathroom. Outside it looked like this:

Our 4-6" of snow that was forecasted we had already exceeded. Justin's relief finally made it to the base and praise God, Justin was able to get home (none of the side streets had been plowed of the 6"+ that had fallen and the highways were icy)... and he took over caring for Parker for the next 24 hours. I slept all of the 26th and woke up on Tuesday the 27th feeling much better and to a true Winter Wonderland.

I think we had about 14" of snow at our house. It was beautiful! The locals said the last time it snowed like this was in the 1970s!

Justin wanted to go play in the snow so we headed to our best friend's house (we'll call them Mr. & Mrs. K). The stores were all sold out of sleds... so Mr. K joked about taking the kayak sledding. They also somehow decided that the kayak would fit inside the minivan. It didn't and we now have a nice new windshield! Mrs. K and I stayed behind at the house with the babies while our husbands (and their toddler) ventured out in the snow. Justin suggested I call the insurance company about the windshield since "it's going to need to be replaced soon."

Insurance Agent: And how did this windshield damage occur?
Me: (as Mrs. K starts laughing and I try not to laugh) Ummm... from what I was told, trying to fit something that was too big into the car.
Insurance Agent: And when did this damage occur?
Me: Today.
Insurance Agent: Oh wow. You're sure quick to call in.
Me: From what I'm told, it's not something that can wait long.
Insurance Agent: Oh. And is the crack bigger than a dollar bill?
Me: From what I was told, much bigger.

My husband so owes me a shoulder rub or something for making that call! Ha ha.

My parents flew in later that day. It was my dad's first time meeting Parker so it was a special day. We finally celebrated Christmas on the 28th. Parker got a new gym mat that he absolutely LOVES! I'll have to post some video of him on it. He'll lay there for hours happily talking, cooing, kicking and reaching for the toys. I love watching him discover his surroundings!

Parker absolutely hates hats... so much so that if I position a blanket so that it's touching his head (like a hat), he'll start screaming. We all found it so entertaining. My mom had been chastising me for having him out in the 20 degree weather without a hat... but she now understands just how bad the temper tantrums become. Gee I wonder who he gets that temper from...

The flag was suppose to be a gift for Justin but the tags got mixed up and I got it. I'm seriously considering installing a flag pole inside so on the tough days, I can fly it :) Or maybe I'll fly it outside on the bad days so Justin knows what he's walking into when he comes home! Ha ha.

December Recap

2010-12-21T15:22:00.000-05:00

Parker is taking his morning nap and as I sit down in front of this blank screen, I'm reflecting on the past few weeks. How is Christmas almost here?!? I still feel like I'm just trying to survive most days. I've been trying to workout a few days each week and on those mornings, I'm lucky if I'm dressed by 1pm... but the baby weight has to go and I'm blessed with a husband who works hard so I can stay home and tend to Baby Boy... and try to get rid of the tummy Baby Boy gave me!

The past 2 weeks we've had a lot of snow! I lived here for 3 years prior to moving back and I don't think we had snow more than 2 or 3 times in those 3 years. So far, this year's snow count is 3... and one of those days turned into a snow storm and everything got shut down at noon. Justin was able to safely make it home but a 20 minute commute took him 2 hours due to the... umm... we'll call it the impromptu driving style of some of the other drivers. Have I mentioned how much I love seasons? I do... but I also love a warm house to escape the cold winter season :) Parker and I spent a lot of time upstairs where it was warmer and enjoyed so slow, relaxing days filled with Christmas movies, hot tea and chocolate.

Everyday Parker shows more of his personality... and I love it! The acid reflux is much much better which means there's a lot more smiling and a lot less screaming/crying. Next week he goes in for his 2 month appointment and I'm interested to see how much he weighs. My little boy LOVES to eat!!! He growls and makes all kinds of sound effects while he's nursing that just tickle me and make me laugh with entertainment. He's started sleeping through the night (more or less) which has been such a huge blessing! Most nights he'll go 5-6 hours between feedings and wake at 4:45 for his first feeding but last night he went 7 hours!!! YAY! Amazing how a baby lowers your standards. At first I was just thankful for a night when I got a 2 hour stretch of sleep... then you get use to not sleeping and you're thankful for a night you don't get puked/pooped/peed on... and then you reach the other side.

We're so excited about our first Christmas with Parker! Only a few more days...

Wordless Wednesday (or not)

2010-12-08T15:55:00.000-05:00

The last 2 weeks have been tough ones for Parker... hence the reason I haven't posted anything. The name of the game the last 2 weeks has been survival. I've suspected he had acid reflux for a few weeks but things started getting out of control the last 2 weeks. Thanksgiving week, Justin's parents came to meet their first grandbaby. Parker was more fussy than normal that week but enjoyed spending time with is Papaw and Memaw.

Parker LOVES his teddy bear suit! He falls asleep everytime I put him in it! Have you ever seen a cuter bear?!? Ha ha. I love this little boy SOOO much!

Last week Justin was out of town (about 2 hours away) for business. The day he left Parker starting spitting up (badly)... to the point I was going through at least 8 burp rags/day. He literally had spit up come out his nose on a few occasions... and he was NOT a happy baby. He cried and cried. He would cry while nursing, cry for at least an hour after nursing before he would cat nap for 15-30 minutes... and then we would start all over again. He went from 5-6 hour stretches between feedings at night to 3 hour stretches. I spent most of the week holding him so there are no pictures. I have so much respect for the women who are raising a baby while their hubby is deployed. After last week... I'm not sure I could do it for more than a week! By Wednesday night I knew that one of us was going on meds! Ha.

Saturday morning we got Parker on some medicine to control the acid reflux... and this medicine is now my best friend! Our baby is once again happy, smiling and sleeping much better!

Treasure Moments

2010-11-29T21:42:00.000-05:00

My baby is now 5 weeks old. It seems like he's been in our lives so much longer. Perhaps it's because we waited so long for this little blessing. I find myself wanting to stop the clock to cherish each minute of the day... but the clock keeps ticking ahead despite my desire and chores/daily drudgery keeps me from just sitting and staring at our sweet blessing.

Parker loves listening to music. Loves it! However, he definitely has his mama's music taste in that he prefers music with words... not daddy's classical (I think it's because he thinks the songs are someone else talking with him). I think he's going to have have my chatty personality :)

Each week I'm discovering all the ways that children enrich our lives and fill them with joy. I'm also discovering how hard it is to raise a baby... How do you remain calm when your baby is crying inconsolably? Surviving the growth spurts that leave me feeling like a human pacifier for days on end. Sacrificing my selfish desire to stay in my warm bed at 3am and instead get up and feed my baby.

But then there are those moments that melt my heart. The moments that just make my heart bubble over with gratitude to God... and I want to remember those moments so here goes.

Treasure Moments from this week:

1.) Staring into his blue grey eyes as his nursing while he clutches at my finger. His eyes say that all is well because mommy is here.

2.) His squeals of delight when I start talking with him during floor time.

3.) Watching him talk with his giraffe and kick his legs. He loves his giraffe!Maybe a little too much. I looked over one day and he had latched on to Mr. Giraffe's foot! Ha ha.

4.) Watching him turn and start looking for his daddy when he hear daddy's voice at the end of the day.

5.) Snuggling with my husband and baby in the morning. (No, we don't have a "family bed"... but if Parker starts to wake up before I'm ready to get up for the morning, I bring him to bed with me. This usually buys me an extra hour of sleep!)

6.) Sunday mornings... I'm daily reminded of God's faithfulness when I stare at Parker... which has brought new depth to Sunday morning worship.

7.) Staring at my sleeping baby and seeing him smile in his sleep. I wonder what he's dreaming about...

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-24T21:34:00.000-05:00

Snuggled in the Moby Wrap on our trip to Annapolis.

Fall :)

More to follow... when it's not WORDLESS Wednesday :)

4 Weeks Ago...

2010-11-21T18:56:00.000-05:00

4 weeks ago this video was recorded. I'm daily amazed at how quickly Parker is growing up. As I was getting ready for church today I told Justin how sad I am that Parker is already starting to outgrow some of his newborn clothes. "Yeah, hun. He's really getting big... he's now in 0-3 month clothes." Ha ha. I also found myself correcting Justin yesterday, "He's not 1 month! He's 4 weeks. I have 3 more days before he's a month old." After 2 years of waiting, the past 4 weeks have been an absolute dream. We love our Baby Boy so much...

Baby Boy's Birth - An Answered Prayer

2010-11-14T16:45:00.000-05:00

Tonight will mark 22 day since Baby Boy was placed in our arms for the first time. There really aren't words to describe how incredible and wonderful these 22 days have been. Justin and I have walked a hard road the past few years in our quest to become parents. Even during this pregnancy, I kept waiting for the bottom to drop out but God was at work... and this became increasingly apparent while I was in labor with Baby Boy.
We arrived back in Norfolk when I was about 33 weeks pregnant. I hate having to find a new doctor. Being 33 weeks pregnant, the urgency to find a doctor only made me feel more stressed. How on earth am I suppose to just choose a doctor... and what if I don't like them? Do I change doctors again when I'm 34 or 35 weeks along? I finally found a practice and had my intake appt with the medical assistant (who did not impress Justin or I in the least bit). I was wanting to turn and run then but decided to wait and see what the doctor was like. They scheduled me with Dr. Wright for my first appt. Turns out my first appt with Dr. Wright was her first day back from Maternity Leave. Looking back now... I can see what a God thing this is... because scheduling appts with her the last few weeks of the pregnancy was near impossible and yet, God always opened a slot for me.

My due date was Sunday, October 17th and by the time I hit the 38 week mark I was so done being pregnant. I was swelling more by the day and having nerve pain down my legs. By the time I had my 38 week appointment, I knew that Baby Boy wasn't coming before his due date. I never thought I would consider being induced... but I was done being pregnant so at my appointment I asked how long past my due date before she would induce me. Turns out the weekend following my due date, Dr. Wright had call for the entire weekend (Friday morning until Monday morning)! For the next 2 weeks I was praying that Baby Boy would wait until the weekend following his due date because I really wanted Dr. Wright to deliver him. Her practice has 6 OB's that rotate call... but I was praying Dr. Wright would be there in the delivery room.

October 18th I went in for my 40 week appt... and it was apparent that this Baby wasn't in any hurry... so the eviction notice was served and the induction scheduled for Thursday night. I was giddy! Thursday night came and the nursing staff called me off because they were slammed with L&D patients. I wanted to cry but instead, Justin and I went out for a high calorie, fiscally irresponsible dessert. All day Friday I was just praying they wouldn't call me off again... and at 8pm I got the word to come in!

The drive to the hospital was surreal. We got there and they got Baby Boy on the monitor, gave me a med to "prep" my body for the pitocin (they would be starting on Saturday morning), and gave me a sleeping pill. At 4am the nurse gave me the second dose of the med and at 4:30 I woke up contracting. Justin was passed out so I did my best to work through them... but these were drug induced contractions and coming every 2-2:30 minutes, lasting 1 minute each. No sooner did I start to relax from one contraction and the next one was hitting. By 7am I could tell that the decorum with which I had been conducting myself was about to end. The nurse offered me pain meds. Let me just say, there isn't a drug they offered me that I didn't take! The IV pain meds gave me some relief but didn't last long and by 9am I wanted my epidural. I was only at 2.5 cm dilated so the nurse said I had to wait until I reached 3. "My doctor said when I was uncomfortable I could have it. I'm uncomfortable! Call her!"... 10 minutes later she and the anesthesiologist were in my room. Praise God for epidurals.

I slept the next several hours (read 5-6 hours). My labor stalled at 3cm so Pitocin was started at 11am. As my labor progressed, Baby Boy started having more and more heart decels. Praise God that I was the only labor patient on the floor at the time and my nurse's only patient... because those last 3-4 hours of labor, she didn't leave my room. I was so nervous watching the monitor that I had to stop... and I don't remember my nurse (Nicki) saying that if this continued, we were going to have to do "something". Praise God that Dr. Wright is such a wonderful doctor... who doesn't leave the hospital when she's inducing a patient. She was sitting at the nurse's station those last few hours watching Baby Boy in case intervention was necessary. He recovered well after each contraction so I was allowed to continue laboring. At 6:10pm I started pushing. I remember listening to his heartbeat drop so low while I was pushing (down to 50-60 bpm)... but God allowed me to stay focused and not panic. At 7:03pm, Baby Boy entered the world. His umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice (a double nuchal cord) which is why he didn't enjoy labor... but he was healthy and blood tests showed he didn't experience any oxygen deprivation. Praise God!

I'm so thankful that the Lord provided such a wonderful doctor to care for Baby Boy and I. A doctor who I had complete and total confidence in... who stayed at the hospital all day (when she could have been home with her baby) to make sure my baby was okay. I'm thankful that the L&D floor was quiet that day so that my nurse could stay in the room and monitor Baby Boy. Most of all I'm thankful that our Baby Boy was born healthy.

Wordless Wednesday - 5 Days Old

2010-11-03T23:28:00.000-04:00

More Pictures

2010-10-28T10:38:00.000-04:00

Today was our 3rd morning to wake up at home as a family of three and it has been an amazing journey. I find myself staring at this precious Baby Boy just wanting to stop time. He's such a sweet a mellow baby and we're so blessed to be his parents. BabyWise would probably disappprove that we rarely ever put him down... but it's just because we can't stop cuddling him! Our days still revolve around his feedings and cherishing this time. My mom is here (my aunt had to go home on Monday) and has been such a blessing as she serves us. I haven't cleaned or done a single load of laundry since we came home... and there has been LOTS of laundry. It's also been wonderful having someone in the house who can give advice and help us figure out the whole nursing thing... not to mention start the grandma spoiling. :)

Yesterday we took Baby Boy to the pediatrician for a weight check and he's doing great! He's put on 3 ounces so he weighs 6lb 6 oz. Such a tiny peanut! The newborn clothes are HUGE on him... it's adorable!

More pictures to follow. Once things settle down a little more I want to write about how the Lord protected us and provided during Baby Boy's birth. It was a wonderful experience and I can't stop tearing up when I think of how gracious our God is. After 2 years of waiting... the Lord has blessed us beyond our heart's desire! For now... it's time to change a diaper and feed a hungry baby...

HE'S HERE!!!

2010-10-24T09:12:00.000-04:00

Baby Boy is here!!! We're still debating if we're going to put his name public on our blog... but he arrived October 23rd and 7:03pm. He weighed 6lb 10 oz and was 20 inches long. We're overwhelmed and so thankful for this precious little boy.

40 Weeks

2010-10-18T10:31:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Baby Boy's due date. Apparently he didn't get the memo. I'm still pregnant and swelling more by the day. I didn't think it was possible to put on weight so quickly. This morning I learned otherwise. How exactly does one put 4 lbs on in 10 days?!? Seriously, I keep expecting to find stretch marks on my hands and feet they're so big! Ha. How sad would it be if I survived this entire pregnancy with no stretch marks on my belly, just my hands?! HA!

I discovered this morning that my husband's wedding ring (2.5 sizes larger than mine) is almost too tight. I laughed so hard when I discovered that! My ankle bones are gone and my feet look like two pancakes. The only reason I've maintained my sense of humor these last two weeks is because my wonderful doctor and the deadline she offered. My body is making NO progress towards having this little boy anytime soon... so Thursday night I'll head to the hospital and hopefully Friday morning the induction will begin. WOW. We're really having a baby!

So this week will be spent cooking and finishing up little things around the house. My mom and aunt are here and waiting. Justin had a silly grin on his face that said "I'm smiling but on the inside I'm freaking out." Only a few more days until we have this Baby Boy in our arms!

Because It's Been One of THOSE Days...

2010-10-12T16:43:00.000-04:00

Because it's been one of "THOSE" days, I think this is fitting. I know we've all had days where we've thought about this :)

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult.

I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year old again.

I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a 4 star restaurant.

I don't want to worry about "what's for dinner" every day.

I want to think that M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.

I want to run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day or run through the sprinkler.

I want to return to a time when I didn't have to worry about clothes fitting, what my weight was or whether I should have had that serving of ice cream.

I want to return to a time when life was simple.

I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible.

I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things.

I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, bills, depressing news, gossip, car repairs, and difficult people.

SO... here's my checkbook and my car keys, my credit card bills and my 401K statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me first, cause... TAG! You're it!

***From "Peanut Butter Kisses & Mud Pie Hugs"

39+ Weeks & One Last Baby Shower

2010-10-12T10:10:00.000-04:00

Saturday one of my dearest friends here threw a baby shower to celebrate Baby Boy! Tracy has been such a wonderful encouragement and support through years of waiting for the Lord to bless us with a child. I still can't believe that this little boy will be here in the next few weeks. How strange to think about...

Courtney is one of my friends from the last time we were based here. She was there when Justin and I were first dating... and when we were engaged. She was at my Bridal Shower, sang at our wedding... and this weekend she was at our Baby Shower! She was so excited to be able to celebrate another major milestone in our lives with us! Such a sweet friend!

Name that Baby Food... by sight only. I was TERRIBLE at this! I think I had all the correct foods downs but not in the right order. Sigh. I guess I'm going to have plenty of years to perfect this one.

Courtney must have misunderstood the instructions... she was suppose to guess how big around I was... not how tall I am! Sheesh. I hope I don't look that big around! LOL.

Comparing the strings. EVERYONE guessed I was bigger than I am. I think I guessed 1" smaller... but everyone else was off by at least 6"+! Ha. We laughed so hard... which incidentally isn't always a good thing at 39 weeks in pregnancy! Oh well.

My mom has been busily sewing all kinds of burp rags. Suffice it to say... we have enough to deal with a stream of spit up... but hopefully we won't need that many.

Tracy and I... just over 7 weeks apart in our pregnancies (except this is her 2nd baby). We're looking forward to many play dates!

So be honest... I don't look that big for 39 weeks, do I??? I feel like a tank and the scale says that I am a tank! Ha ha. Such a liar the scale is. Baby Boy is due this Sunday, October 17th! We're very excited but I think this little boy will be late. My body is showing no signs of starting labor anytime soon. My doctor told me at my last appt that if I'm still pregnant on the 18th (my next appt), she'll schedule me for an induction that weekend since she has call the entire weekend and I REALLY REALLY want her to be the one to deliver this little boy. I'm so excited to have a deadline and even more excited to be able to hold this little boy soon. I have a feeling he is going to have some major leg muscles from all the moving , pushing and stretching he's been doing lately :)

Those ARE NOT My Hands...

2010-10-04T08:25:00.000-04:00

I've officially hit the point in this pregnancy when I can say "I'M DONE". It was so great to have some ladies just pray for me yesterday in church... because right now, 2 weeks seems so far away.

I'm 38 weeks pregnant and I'm done. I want this baby boy in my arms and not in my belly... and especially not on my bladder or in my ribs (which he has rediscovered with every stretch)! My OB is so wonderful and assured me I'm at the worst point in pregnancy. The point when every nasty symptom is amplified... and that I just need to survive it.

I woke up yesterday feeling like I had resumed running and never stretched out. Turns out the swelling has expanded into my calves... and they are so sore. My wonderful husband was rubbing them last night and it was written all over his face... the "Oh my gosh are you swollen!". Even my toes are looking like marshmellows. I love marshmellows... but not this way. We won't even discuss how horribly swollen my hands are. I can't even pop my knuckles due to all the swelling. Sigh.

NO, I'm not one of those pregnant women who "has never felt more beautiful"! I'm with my friend Tara... I have felt WAY more beautiful. I have 2 shirts I can fit in right now... that's right, 2... so I'm leaving in tank tops and honestly... I don't care if my bra strap does show with them! I don't consider myself high maintenance... but I would like a little more choice.

My husband had this relieved look on his face as he headed out the door for work this Friday morning. A look that says "I'm going to leave now... why don't you take a nap or something." I fought the urge to blame him for "doing this to me"... and I have never done this before (I've maintained it was a team effort... but the team isn't suffering). Yes, I was angry at him... because he got sleep and isn't dealing with raging hormones. Because he can tie his own shoe... and because he doesn't have to pray that he doesn't have an "accident" every time he sneezes.

So... I've officially given Baby Boy his eviction notice. He has until his due date to vacate and if he fails to do so, we'll be talking to the doctor on the 18th about evicting him. You know I'm desperate when I went and bounced on a friends trampoline on Saturday! Ha. Fat girl bouncing. I'm sure it was a sight for the neighbors.

REALLY Pregnant

2010-09-29T19:20:00.000-04:00

Only 18 days remaining before my due date! If it weren't for the swelling... I would be feeling pretty good. However, I've reached the "I'm done" point... and I'm just praying this little boy comes early. SO... what to do when all those "I'm so pregnant" moments arise? Cry or laugh? I've just been laughing myself silly and thought, why not share :)

Here's my current list of "You know you're REALLY pregnant when..."

1.) You've given up on the regular bathroom stalls and go straight to the handicap stall because it's easier to close the door without hitting your stomach.

2.) Your hands are no longer recognizable... well, maybe that's not entirely true. You can swear you saw similar paws at your last troop to the big cat cages at the zoo.

3.) You go to put on a pair of sneakers and with some help of Crisco you manage to slide into them... and as long as you don't have to try and walk, you're good.

4.) You can only squeeze into 1 (or maybe 2) of your husbands t-shirts... which were HUGE on you just a few months ago...

5.) Since lounging around in your husband's t-shirts is no longer possible, you head to the closet to get dressed and are faced with the tough decision of shirts that are too short or shirts that are even shorter. So you close your eyes, grab a shirt and spend the rest of the day walking around with your ginormous elastic waistband showing.

6.) You feel like a Biggest Loser Contestant every week when you step on the scale and watch as the numbers jump around. You hold your breathe, pray for a good number to come up... and then want to cry when you see the final number (while muttering under your breathe that the scale is a liar).

7.) You can no longer bend over to dry your own feet. Oh yes, it happened.

8.) You find yourself walking into things... and wondering where this big belly came from that is now in your way.

9.) (NOTE: Even though I'm not suppose to... I have been sleeping on my back. I start on my side but roll to my back while sleeping) You try to get out of bed (for one of the countless nightly potty trips)... only to resemble a cockroach. You know, all fours up in the air, grasping at the air as it will somehow help you heave ho off your back and into the vertical position.

10.) You swear if one more person comments on how swollen your ankles are... you're going to comment on their ankles!

11.) You sit on the edge of the tub (to wash your feet before going to bed... a necessity after wearing flip flops all day) only to nearly roll off the edge like Humpty Dumpty when you try to reach your foot.

12.) You realize your abs have never been so firm in your life. Not a 6 pack... but they're rock hard without the inconvenience of daily sit ups.

So what were your "I'm REALLY pregnant" moments???

Cross Country Trip

2010-09-28T09:51:00.000-04:00

I did my best to try and take a few pictures of each state as we drove through them... of course, this dedications/motivations dwindled the further into the trip we got. Amazing how spending 2+ weeks in the car can ruin the excitement of a road trip!

The cats survived... barely. There were a few days when we considered strapping their carriers to the luggage rack. Okay... not really but their howling (like we were skinning them) did where us down. Fortunately after a few days on the road, they would give up their protest within 10-15 minutes of our return to the car.

With our drive through the South came the return of summer thunderstorms! Wahoo! I love watching thunderstorms building... and after 2 years in California, it was a beautiful sight!

Sorry that a few of the pictures are blurry. All the photos were taken from the moving car. We weren't stopping for anything (other than my frequent potty breaks ;).

We've been here 6 weeks and after almost 2 weeks of waiting, our HHG (military term for Household Goods - aka all our stuff) was finally delivered. Turns out it had been put in storage in Richmond (2 1/2 hours away) so we had quite the wait.

The house is unpacked... which I guess means I should start posting pictures. We still have some organizing to do but I've been focusing my energy on the nursery! SOOO excited to finally be able to set up the nursery! Baby Boy's dresser should be delivered by the end of the week... and then I'll be able to post pictures :)

36 Weeks...

2010-09-23T10:27:00.000-04:00

We're getting so close!!! We just took this picture today so I'm 36 1/2 weeks pregnant and counting. Baby Boy is quickly running out of room but praise God, Baby Boy started to drop about 2 weeks ago so I have finally been able to breathe! Yay! For a while there I had to choose between food and breathing... Guess which I chose ;) Then I would spend an hour or so barely able to move from the shortness of breathe! Ha ha.

We're still working on the nursery and hopefully will have it complete before he comes. I'll post pictures once it's complete but I love how it's turning out! Baby clothes are washed and his stuff is packed for the hospital. Justin has been wonderful in helping me get stuff done around the house... and rubs my legs every night... despite the fact that somedays, my feet look like they belong to Fred Flinstone! Ha. Last night he had this look on his face (I think I was groaning as I tried to find a position to sleep in that didn't hurt)... and when I asked him what was wrong he said, "I just feel so bad for everything you're body is going through." Awww. Such a sweet husband! We still can't believe we're about to have a baby!

Growing Baby Boy

2010-09-16T13:37:00.000-04:00

WOW! I can't believe how long it's been since I was on here. It has been an incredibly busy and transient summer. We arrived back in Virginia a few weeks ago and have been trying to get unpacked (and get internet connected)... but things are starting to settle down and I'm going to try to catch up now. I have a bunch of pictures from our cross country trip that I need to upload... but for now, here's some pictures of our growing Baby Boy.

28 weeks Pregnant

34 weeks pregnant

I'm almost 36 weeks now! We're getting so close!!! I'm feeling pretty good. Not sleeping well and absolutely exhausted... oh, and my hands swell terribly every night while I'm sleeping so I wake up with man hands! Ha ha. Baby Boy is super active still and I've learned to love all those kicks... even the persistent rib kicks ;)

Anyway, I need to go do some cleaning and laundry before my hubby gets home. More to follow...

Nesting... If Only I Had A Nest

2010-07-08T11:25:00.000-04:00

Baby Boy has been busy growing! I'm just over 25 weeks now and every day I'm amazed at how big my belly looks (and how flat my belly button has gotten!). I haven't been consistent about taking belly photos... mainly because there wasn't much of a belly but my mom has insisted (or maybe demanded is a more accurate term) monthly belly photos... so here goes. This photo was taken at 24 weeks. Yes, I know I look tired. I am tired. This move has worn me out! I don't know who said "the camera puts on 10 lbs" because I don't feel the camera is acurately reflecting how big I feel! LOL.

We've gotten the name narrowed down to 2 names... but we're not telling :) We're going to wait until Baby Boy is born to decide which name best fits him. He's one active baby who already has his days and nights reversed. Every night as I'm trying to get comfortable and fall asleep, he wakes up and begins kicking, rolling, and bouncing. He absolutely hates any pressure on my belly (such as the seat belt) and kicks at it until I move it. Sigh. He also likes to wake me up in the middle of the morning when he's hungry. Personally, I think 3am is a terrible time to be eating... but he kicks me until I get up and eat... and then settles back down. We're praying he doesn't have my fiesty spirit! Ha.

I've been learning the importance of drinking enough water after struggling with weak and faint spells for about 2 weeks. Yuck. I wasn't drinking any where near enough but didn't realize that was the problem so last week we ended up in L&D after I had a spell while driving. Baby Boy put on quite the show and spent the entire 5 hours kicking the monitors. We had to ask the nurses to turn down the volume because every time he kicked the monitor (which was at least every other minute), the static would blast us out. The ultrasound technician was quite entertained by how active he was (at 11:30pm). She almost couldn't get the pictures she needed because he wouldn't hold still! It was so amazing to see his little foot (repeatedly kicking me). I'm amazed that even though it's so small, it's perfectly formed. We also found out that he was already "practice breathing" (at 24 weeks) and definitely a boy! Ha ha.

We spent the 4th of July holiday traveling to see family. My aunt and uncle who live in Sacramento flew down to San Diego and we met up for the weekend. It was our once last Hoorah before we head to Virginia. We had a great time visiting with them, listening to patriotic music and walking around the downtown.

Sunday morning we headed to see my other aunt and uncle who live in Laguna Beach. We walked down the hill and watched the fireworks that evening... which was great but I have to say, I miss the firework displays that are choreographed to patriotic music. Anyway, we also got some new furniture for Baby Boy (and any other children the Lord blesses us with). My aunt and uncle have 2 granddaughters who they decorated a trunk, table and 4 chairs for... but the girls have outgrown the furniture... so they gave it to us! It's SOOO cute! Don't you just love it?!? My aunt loves to paint so the trunk is a combination of stickers (that have been epoxied over) and painting. The chairs and table are still wrapped up so I didn't get any photos of them but it's the same "Safari" theme. We're thinking this will go in the family room. It will be a great way to keep the baby toys from taking over the family room and hopefully our house won't look like a daycare. Ha ha.

I can't wait to have a house to nest in! Sigh. While the hotel is nice... the thoughts of a nursery our dancing through my mind. I keep wondering what the room will look like, how big it will be, windows, etc. I'm already feeling nervous about finding a place quickly when we get to Virginia. We know what part of town we want to live in... we're just praying for guidance as we start searching.

While I don't know what the nursery will look like... I do know what crib bedding I'm getting. I always thought it would be fun to do a vintage airplane theme for a little boy. About a year ago I found this metal plane and decided to buy it confident that some day, the Lord would give us a son :) I found this bedding and fell in love with the colors and the planes! Our crib is chocolate color but I think it will look good with this bedding. Of course, I don't have a mailing address right now, so I'm not so patiently waiting until we get to Virginia to order it. Sigh. I think the nesting has kicked in but I don't have a nest!

Hotel Living in Pt. Hueneme

2010-07-06T23:27:00.000-04:00

We survived another packout! Yay! This move was by far the worst one yet... and I'm just praying we don't end up with a massive damage claim like I'm expecting. By the second day of the packout I was ready to have not nice words with the packers. Sigh. At least it's over.

The cats didn't seem to enjoy the car ride to Palm Springs. We had them in a dog kennel together... that lasted about 1 mile. They were quite literally cage fighting. Blue had Angel cornered and was up on her back legs "popping" Angel left and right while hissing. About the 5th attack in a mile (complete with fur flying through the air) and we detoured to the vet clinic to get a sedative (for them :) and to seperate them. Who would have guessed the sedative would have a 6 hour delay! Oh yes, our cats persisted to meow and protest for 6 of the 9.5 hour drive to Palm Springs. Sometime in the 6th hour the sedative kicked in... either that or they had put their heads down in defeat. We survived rush hour in Los Angeles (those drivers are crazy!) and spent the weekend in Palm Springs visiting with Justin's mom.

The kitties have been pawned off to Justin's parents and are in Phoenix until the end of the month. Justin has 5 weeks of EDO (Engineering Duty Officer) Basic School in Port Hueneme (aka- Port Who Needs Me) and so the grand kitties are with the grand parents. From what we've been told, they've taken over the house and are training their new servants. Ha ha.

The week of graduation we found out that there was no BOQ (Bachelor Officer Quarter) availability in Pt. Hueneme and we were being put up in a hotel out in town. My research indicated that none of the rooms at this hotel had a kitchenette so I came prepared to cook on the top of dressers and wash dishes in the bath tub. It's not ideal but I've done it before. Let me say I was so amazed at the room the Lord provided! We have a Suite, complete with kitchenette AND a fireplace! Wow! Of 26 students, Justin was the only one assigned to a Suite. Praise God for his provision!

There's not much for me to do here... but then again, there wasn't much for me to do in Monterey. Our internet is SOOOO slow at the hotel that we've resorted to trips to Starbucks in the evening for internet access. The problem came in getting a signal long enough that we could look up the closest Starbucks. Yes, it really is that bad. The terrible internet connection is part of the reason for my lack of blogging lately but hopefully that will change now.

I have discovered a few perks to hotel living.

1.) The towels and linens get changed and washed magically.
2.) Fairies make the bed each morning.
3.) No cleaning necessary. In fact, if there are any dishes in the sink, house keeping washes them! Ok, so that's slightly embarrassing...
4.) Free hot breakfast! Did I mention that there are no breakfast dishes!
5.) Manager's Reception... a fancy way of saying Free Drinks each evening! LOL. Too bad I can't take more advantage of that!
6.) No taking the trash out.
7.) We never run out of toilet paper. This is a biggie for me :) Ha.

So let me conclude this post with a tour of where we're now living...

We're loving the King size bed. I'm not sleeping very well (due to a lot of back pain)... so this bed is big enough that Justin can roll to the other side and remain relatively undisturbed by my tossing and turning.

Not very impressive... but I've managed to cook dinner and lunch in this little kitchenette.

The desk... where I spend way too much time waiting for pages to load.

Main room...

The fireplace! I love that the air conditioner is right next to it... to cool the room back down :)

Bye-Bye Monterey

2010-06-23T14:05:00.000-04:00

They say the few certain things in life are taxes and death. For military families, there's one more thing we can add to that list... moving. Almost like clock work, every 2-3 years our homes are put in boxes and loaded on a truck. I'm amazed at how quickly moves can roll around. 20 months ago our house looked similar to this... only we were moving in. I forgot the mixture of dread and excitement I feel (in the pit of my stomach) when I hear the rumble of the moving truck and see it stop in front of our house.

Monterey has far and above been our toughest duty station. There were countless months last year when I cried weekly that I just wanted to leave Monterey. Our move seemed so far away at the time. Amazing how the Lord has brought us friends who have helped heal the wounds incurred during our time here... making it somewhat bittersweet to leave. I'm excited to have survived so many tough times here... but it's hard saying goodbye to friends and wondering if we'll see them again this side of heaven.

Last week Justin received he's Master's Degree... or more accurately he received his "Certificate of Completion". LOL. I hear the diploma will be coming shortly. I'll post more about that once I find a thumb drive to dowload the graduation photos from his laptop onto mine. Our family left Saturday evening (for the most part) giving us 1 full day to finish preparing the house for the movers. Yes, we can say it's been busy and fairly stressful. In the middle of juggling so much family in town, our van broke (and the car has already been shipped to Virginia). The van went from getting 25 mpg to 12 (don't tell the tree huggers out here ;). Today is day 4 of the van at Midas and we're told it should be ready for pick up this evening.

We're so thankful for friends who have lent us their truck while they're out of town, for friends who have cooked us dinner, and for friends who have left us the keys to their house so that we can do laundry or heat up food. We're thankful that the multiple emails about our rental property in FL having "issues" have resulted in cheap repairs... and we're praying that a major hurricane levels that house this year (and ask you to join us in this prayer... oh yes, we're serious :). This is my 4th summer praying for a hurricane to level that house... and I'm thinking it might be our lucky year! It's so tough to find the blessings when our days are plagued by activity and stress but the Lord has been showing us how He's providing.

Friday morning we will officially depart Monterey for good... and we're very excited to be moving on to the next duty station. After 6 years of training and studying, Justin is looking forward to having a "real job" in the Navy (after 5 more weeks of school in Pt. Hueneme). We're looking forward to returning "home" to Virginia where so many dear friends are... and we're especially looking forward to this fall when we'll welcome Baby Boy into our lives.

Baby Shower

2010-06-14T21:34:00.000-04:00

Shortly after the last miscarriage we changed churches and I began volunteering with Operation Christmas Child. Mary is the Regional Coordinator for OCC... and is a kindred spirit :) Her husband works with Justin (or should I say was in charge of Justin until a few days ago) at NPS and they have become good friends. Mary and Jon prayed over us after the last miscarriage and have faithfully prayed that the Lord would bless us with a child. When we told them that I was pregnant (again)... they immediately laid hands on and prayed for this baby. Ever since I told Mary about this pregnancy, she's been wanting to celebrate this baby with a Baby Shower. Our move is rapidly approaching so last Thursday Baby Boy had his first Baby Shower. It was a wonderful night filled with much laughter and rejoicing at God's goodness.

My friend Cathy volunteered to be the photographer and she did a wonderful job capturing the evening. She also managed to get me to pose for the first baby bump profile shot! Ha ha. I was about 21 1/2 weeks... and I promise, this picture doesn't do justice to how big I've gotten! Or at least how big I feel like I've gotten ;)

The big surprise of the night was that my mom had flown in for the shower! I knew my aunt was coming down but mom wasn't going to come due to all the recent traveling for my brother's wedding. I guess my aunt called and laid a major guilt trip on her. LOL. My husband knew she was coming as did several other ladies... and I had no clue! I still can't believe they pulled it off without so much as a hint!

Mom made the diaper cake and I think she did such a fantastic job! SOOOO CUTE!!

The cake was incredible! White (with some chocolate marbling) and a Bavarian Cream filling with freshly slice strawberries! YUM! Let me just say that it's not fair that such good food is before me when there's the mandatory "weigh in" every 4 weeks. :)

We're so thankful for this precious Baby Boy and for friends who are rejoicing and celebrating the blessing with us! Baby Boy is getting more and more active... or I guess I'm just really starting to feel the constant movement. The movements and kicks are a reminder that God has answered our prayers...

20 Week Ultrasound

2010-06-04T11:14:00.001-04:00

Tuesday was the big 20 week anatomy scan. Last time I saw the baby on an ultrasound was the 7th week of pregnancy when the baby looked like a blob. Honestly, back then I couldn't tell that it was even a baby except for the little pulsing heart. What a difference a few months makes :) The first thing we saw were vertebrae... lots of them! WOW! I'm very much a Type A who loves to plan and prepare so we definitely wanted to find out the gender... and fortunately the baby cooperated.

This is my favorite picture... BABY BOY trying to find his thumb!

Yesterday we had a Level 2 Ultrsound... it's a long story why that I'm not going to go into. Level 2 ultrasounds are a higher resolution and check the baby's systems much closer. They were able to confirm that it is without a doubt a little boy and that there are no birth defects or malformations! Yay! Baby boy is measuring right on schedule and weighs 13 ounces! The most amazing part was watching him open and close his hand. His hand is probably about 1/2 inch long but we could see each joint bending. Absolutely incredible! I was hoping to get a glance of his feet... but he wasn't cooperating and had his legs crossed at the ankle... so both feet were kicking the same spot. Ha ha. No wonder it felt like such a strong kick!

I am SO behind on this blog. The past few weeks have been packed with non-stop activity including a trip to Yosemite and a trip to Texas for my brother's wedding... not to mention all activity that's starting with our move just 17 days away. All of that will have to wait for a later post because I need to load up on coffee (and yes, I drink coffee while pregnant) and get to a friend's house to help her clean before her move out inspection.

Recent Ramblings

2010-04-28T20:48:00.001-04:00

Please excuse the lack of fluid thought... these are the random thoughts flooding my mind lately.

My hubby brought me beautiful flowers that are still cheering my kitchen. I have no idea what kind they are... but aren't they pretty?

I'm sick again. What a month it's been. Now I've got a sinus infection with a touch of the flu (which my hubby passed back to me). Yuck! I keep telling him that sharing isn't caring. I can't remember ever having the shakes as badly as last night. My poor husband didn't get much sleep because I was in tears the better part of the wee hours of the morning due to every joint in my spine hurting so much. My loving husband kept rubbing my back and was about ready to drive to the emergency room at 3am it was so bad. Hooray for Tylenol and thank you Lord that Z-Packs can be taken during pregnancy!

We got to hear the baby's heartbeat yesterday. That little one has attitude already! We were listening to the nice whooshing and then there was a THUMP as they kicked the doppler. Sigh. I wonder who he/she gets that attitude from...

We scheduled the big anatomy ultrasound for June 1st! We're super excited! Our last ultrasound picture the baby looked like a blob... so that's what I've been calling them. My mother has informed me that I can't keep calling it a blob... so we've renamed it The Bump. A few more weeks and we'll be able to start working on a real name for them!

It's a woman thing wanting to see baby bumps, isn't it? One of these days I'll get Justin to take a picture (seeing as he hasn't brought home the tripod yet)... but not until I clean up and get out of my pajamas! There really isn't much of a bump yet. Is that normal for 15 weeks?

I'm getting a haircut next week! I have struggled to getting a good haircut here. Apparently they aren't use to cutting hair that goes curly in humidity but will stay straight on drier days :( Hopefully next week will work out because I'm leaving for Texas in less than 3 weeks and there will be humidity there. I would prefer having my hair look cute and curly than a poofed up poodle.

Justin is plowing away on his thesis. Hopefully he'll get his green card before graduation day. He claims he's getting carpal tunnel in his thumb due to excessive mouse usage... so we're now having to share ice packs (I've been icing my very unhappy sinuses).

We're having pizza again for dinner. Have I mentioned how much pizza we've been eating during this pregnancy? A lot of pizza. Tonight we're enjoying a veggie pizza. Yum!

I finally cleaned my house... and it was so wonderful to come downstairs the following morning to a clean house. I won't go into how long it's been since that happened last. It's enough to make me consider cleaning it again this week.

I've been researching a lot of baby items lately. We're considering cloth diapering. Justin has always wanted to do this but it's taken a while to get me on board. Has anyone used glass bottles? I'm very intrigued and they have this silicone sleeves that keep it from breaking when dropped. How cool is that?! Now on to car seats. Man, those things can get heavy! I'm a small person, I can't be lugging a carseat that weighs 20lbs + and 20 lb (10 month old) baby! That's almost 30% of my weight! Yikes.

Can I just say... I'm so sick of these stupid (and yes, I said stupid) media reporters. I've seen at least two in the past day who were reporting on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico... point to a satelite picture but are incapable of telling the difference between the oil spill and the Mississippi River delta. Seriously???

Mexico has issued a travel advisory for citizens traveling to Arizona. Yeah... because Arizona is far more dangerous than... oh, I don't know... Cuidad Juarez. They issued a travel advisory for Arizona. Can I just say I love finding the irony in the news.

Back to twiddling my thumbs. Less than 8 weeks until we move... I hope. We still don't have movers lined up but I'm planning on being gone in 8 weeks. Yippee!

My Favorite Things - Mixing It Up

2010-04-23T19:15:00.000-04:00

I love to bake. Every summer we would visit my grandparents and my grandma was always baking (at least in my little kid mind). My mom says this is where I learned to bake... and the love affair began. Summers and weekends spent begging mom to let me bake cookies or muffins or just about anything that had plenty of sugar in it. I loved baking and I grew up under the impression the only way to make cookies was with a Kitchen Aid Mixer. This is how mom and grandma did it... it must be a requirement!

In my mind, anyone who owned a Kitchen Aid Mixer had arrived... at adulthood! Sounds ridiculous now but afterall, this is what moms and grandmas have... so you're not an adult without one, right? Awww the logic of a child!

Since I grew up with a love affair with the Kitchen Aid Mixer, it never occurred to me that there might be a defiency with it. Gasp! Say it ain't so! Yes, unfortunately it is so. See the mixer head unfortunately doesn't get along the edge of the bowl. The result... butter, flour and other aspects of batter/dough stick to the side. This is where a spatula becomes a necessity.

Fellow bakers REJOICE! The deficiency that has recently been corrected.

This is the Self Scraping Mixer! Yay! Works like a champ and it is now one of My Favorite Things!

J&J Life - April Edition

2010-04-21T23:04:00.000-04:00

Countdown With J&J

27 days til' I leave for TEXAS!!

~37 days til' we find out if we're having a boy or girl !!!

58 days til' Graduation!!!

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Family Updates

Justin - is in his final quarter! Yay! He's working on his thesis now and I'm praying the Lord paves the way to writing this thing. He keeps saying that sitting in front of a computer all day doesn't make him feel like a man... so he's eager for projects that involve building things in the garage with power tools! A few more weeks and we'll find out if this little one is a boy or girl... and he's already started sketching potential bookshelves for a boy or girl! He's eager to start building a bookshelf for the nursery!

Jen - is getting ready to travel to Texas for my brother's wedding. I'm finally feeling better (hooray for the 2nd trimester!)... and has the smallest beginnings of a baby bump. This weekend I had to go shopping for some new clothes. My t-shirts were starting to crawl up over the bump and let's just say, I'm not looking to dress like Brittney Spears! The final straw for the shopping trip was only 1 pair of pants that I can still squeeze into. LOL.

Blue & Angel - Those poor kitties... they don't have a clue what's coming.

News

Nothing "new" has happened in the last month. Just a whole lot of baby growing and sleeping :)

What's Been Happening the Past Month...

Jen continues her residency on the couch... although she is slowly starting to get moving! Ha ha.
We spent the week before and following Easter with a nasty cold virus invading our home. Fortunately we were able to serve an eviction notice to that virus and we're now avoiding young children with runny noses at all costs! LOL. We've been sick so many times since we moved here... I swear our immune systems are worn out.

I will conclude by saying our life has been quite dull lately... and I'm thankful for that!

Who Needs a Laugh?

2010-04-14T23:13:00.003-04:00

I'm feeling much better today! Thank you for all the prayers. Since laughter is the best medicine (supposedly)... I thought I would share a little with you. If you need a laugh... go HERE :)

Cry Baby

2010-04-13T19:58:00.000-04:00

I left church on Sunday in tears. While I would love to say it's because I was so moved by the sermon... we didn't make it through the 2nd song, much less the sermon. We waited so long for this pregnancy and persevered through 2 miscarriages... we want this baby so much. I'm so thankful for this baby but I'm tired of feeling lousy. Sunday marked the 13 week mark and I spent the entire weekend fighting a migraine, morning sickness and exhaustion. Isn't my energy suppose to be coming back by now?!? This picture pretty much sums up what my days have been looking like.

Pathetic, right? Again, we're so thankful for this baby but I'm ready to start feeling better. So why did I cry? Well, I was feeling lousy and a few ladies asked how I was feeling (I had missed the previous week due to a nasty cold). I could have lied but I didn't and just said, "Still morning sick." The common response was telling me to be thankful. Sigh. Not the compassionate response I was looking for. I already feel like I'm failing as a wife since I'm barely getting anything done around the house... and these comments made me feel like a failure of a pregnant mama-to-be. So I cried like a baby. The hormones definitely aren't helping but I feel like this pregnancy is turning me into such a Cry Baby!

Somebody tell me it gets better, please!

Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh

2010-03-30T23:42:00.000-04:00

We had an fantastic day today! Why? I had a doctor's appointment and we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat on the doppler! YAY! We were so relieved and amazed. More to updates to follow tomorrow... for now I'm exhausted.

My Favorite Things - Magi Cake Strips

2010-03-16T16:25:00.001-04:00

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

Silver white winters that melt into springs

These are a few of my favorite things

This is the start of a new series... My Favorite Things! Lately I've found so many things that I'm smitten by. I wonder if they're really just well kept secrets or if I've just been clueless. So I've decided that I'm going to start blogging about these things.

Today we're talking about Magi-Cake Strips!

Everyone who has ever baked a cake has experienced a high rise center... you know... that big ole hump in the middle of your cake. So you get a knife and try to "level" the cake so that you can stack the layers without requiring an inch of icing on the edges. The travesty is that the part that is excised is the yummy part! It's moist and fluffy... unlike the edges of the cake. So what's a baker to do?!?

My mom had Magi-Cake Strips when I was growing up... and I never had a "high rise center" cake (little did I know that's why I didn't). When I left for college I had no idea why my cakes looked so... odd. For whatever reason, recently I started researching how to bake a level cake and ended up buying some strips. The idea is that the strips keep the edge of the pan cooler longer... so that the edges cake bake evenly with the rest of the cake and don't over bake (and collapse back down). They work! And this is why they are now one of my favorite things...

J&J Life - March Edition

2010-03-09T17:38:00.001-05:00

Disclaimer: Yes I know it's been a really long time since I blogged... and there's a good reason for it, I promise. Keep reading and you'll see what has been occupying my time...

Countdown With J&J

11 days til' SPRING!

20 days til' Justin starts his final quarter!!

101 days til' Graduation!!!

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Family Updates

Justin - Wow! Justin is about to finish his 7th quarter at NPS! His thesis is... well... it's there. Since he's a physics major, his thesis is based on 2 experiments he needs to conduct and write up. The first experiment is complete and the second is pending. Hopefully next week he'll get (what we hope is the) final part. The experiment will only take a couple days... and then begins the "fun" part of actually writing the thesis. He's got 3 months... plenty of time ;)

Jen - is ready to move!

Blue & Angel - So spoiled. They have such a rude awakening coming this June :) Their new favorite "bed" is a box (that is sitting by the back door waiting to go to the recycle bin). Blue is such a 2 year old... refuses to share (as the picture shows). Angel got in the box and Blue decided she wanted it... so she laid on top of Angel until she moved. Sigh. Thank goodness we're not responsible for their souls and can just laugh at the antics!

News

Well... we have to big pieces of news to share.

1.) We received orders to Norfolk!!! We're super excited! We had always hoped to go back there but the billets available weren't ideal for Justin's career. We continued to hope we could go back there (and pray occasionally) but we were resigned to our fate of moving to San Diego. In January Justin got a call saying there was an early rotate billet available in Norfolk... that's perfect for him! YAY! A silent request that the Lord answered! This June we'll depart! We have a 5 weeks in Pt. Hueneme TAD before we'll begin our cross country drive! WOOHOO! I may be one of the few people who is thrilled to be moving cross country!

2.) We've both got a new love... something that's the size of a raspberry right now but Lord willing, we'll be welcoming into our family this October. That's right... Jen's pregnant again! We're so humbled by the Lord's goodness and continue to pray that this little one will continue to grow and be healthy. Right now she's in the 8th week and so far everything has been great and baby has looked great... although it looked more like a blob than a baby ;)

What's Been Happening the Past Month...

We've begun the "purging" process that preceeds every move! This is one of the great parts of moving so often... clutter stands no chance!

Jen has spent on extraordinary amount of time of the couch lately... although the laundry at least is getting done this time! The morning sickness has been nothing compared to the last pregnancy, for which we thank God daily!

Many of our closest Monterey friends moved away in January... so we're starting to spend time with new friends and have been blessed with some amazing fellowship! These couples have been faithful in praying over us this last month and reminding us of God's faithfulness. What a blessing!

Back in January (yes it's really been that long since I did a big update), Justin started attending a different men's Bible Study. This group has been a huge blessing and has encouraged him to resume the discipline of Scripture memorization. Jen just changed Bible Studies to a smaller home group. The study is on "The Power of a Praying Wife"... how amazing to go through an entire study on praying over your husband and blessing him as a wife!

Well... that's a wrap! Stay tuned for the start of a new series: These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things... where I'll showcase some of our favorite gadgets and nifty little things we've discovered!

Thought For The Day

2010-02-17T19:09:00.000-05:00

I've always hear that it's easier letting the cat out of the bag than putting it back in... I don't know.

It was pretty easy getting the cat in the bag...

Crab Bucket

2010-02-11T19:16:00.000-05:00

And now for a completely random post...

We love playing games! Games were a passion of Justin's before we got married and I quickly got on board... with one exception: Monopoly. This is a game that is not a blessing on our marriage. We played it on our honeymoon cruise and let me just say, that was not the best decision. Of ALL the things we could have been doing, Monopoly shouldn't have been on that list. Ha ha! It wasn't my husband... it was me. I didn't learn to play games properly as a kid... in our house it had a tendency of becoming personal and so that has tainted me. Anyway, we've overcome that incident and found "marriage friendly" games. Our favorite is Settler's of Catan.

An interesting thing happens everytime one person starts to dominant the game... everyone else tries to pull them down. My husband calls this Crab Bucket. "Crab bucket?" our friends ask. Well yes. Have you ever observed how crabs can never get out of a bucket? If one gets too close to the top, the others pull it back down. Same thing happens in games... hence the term Crab Bucket.

The View From Where I Sit

2010-02-08T17:32:00.000-05:00

We have a front porch swing that I absolutely love. When it's decent weather I just sit out there and swing, read and watch the neighborhood kids come and go. This was the view we had this weekend...

I'm not sure what to make of this. Those of you who know me have heard or lived in California have inevitably heard or experienced California's lousy ability to accurately place signs on the road. I have yet to find the benefit of placing the exit sign 15 feet past the exit... but perhaps I'm just missing something. Anyway, my hypothesis to why we have a Humvee in our neighborhood... I think they got lost on their way to Iraq (thanks to California's lousy exit sign placement) and just gave up. :) Sounds good to me...

He Said WHAT?!?

2010-02-03T14:41:00.000-05:00

I've decided I need to start a new blog series called "He Said WHAT?!?". This is inspired by all the entertaining one liners my husband has come up with lately.

Disclaimer: NOW, please let me be clear. In writing about this I do not intend to be disrespectful towards my husband. My husband and I both love to laugh about the things we say that come across... well... badly. We don't pretend to be perfect or to not say things that can be misconstrued. None of the material in this series reflects anything that has caused strife or hurt feeling in our marriage... this is solely the stuff of marriage that we love to laugh about and we would like for others to be able to laugh with us! If you're married, I'm sure you've had similar instances in your marriage... the ones that just make you laugh so hard and fall in love with your husband even more :) Now that that's out of the way... let's get started!

A few weeks ago we took several international students from Africa to a State Park for a picnic. Justin wanted to take a picture and without hesitating I took off running... no way was I going to be photographed! Justin tried to encourage me back into the picture... I refused and he said "No really hun. Get in the picture. You look good today!" To which I replied "Unlike everyother day of the week" (including an incredibly unamused face). The international students cringed and Justin looked horrified as he said, "That came out wrong."

You don't say. LOL...

Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-02-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

Jenny, from Home Is Where You Start From blog gave me this Beautiful Blogger award.

So sweet! Thank you :)
Jenny is my new blog-friend. She's a home schooling Mama with 4 gorgeous children. I'm amazed at all those incredible home schooling mom's the Lord is placing in my path! Did I mention she lives in California?

okay, now that I have this award...here are the rules:

-Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

-Copy the award & place it on your blog.

-Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

-Tell us 7 interesting things about yourself.

-Nominate 7 bloggers.

-Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7 interesting things about me...

1.) I went skydiving back in college... on a dare.

2.) I worked in an oil refinery in South Louisiana for 2 years as a Project Engineer. Granted, the Nomex overalls didn't fit so I had to roll them up and the ponytail sticking out from under the hard hat made me a HUGE target... but it was fun!

3.) My senior year of college, I kept a blanket and slippers at the Engineering School. The building was freezing so I use to put my slippers on after class and wander the halls wrapped in my purple blanket :) I like to think I scared a few prospective students out of an engineering degree.

4.) I've waded through the flooded streets of New Orleans barefoot and wearing a dress to get to my car. The water was up to my knees... love those Southern Storms! The storm cells kept coming and I didn't want to stick around for the flooding to get any worse.

5.) We thought my one cat (Blue) was a boy... until I took her to get neutered. Oops!

6.) When I was in the Navy and working in Norfolk, the base maintenance guys nicknamed me "Bull Dog Jr."... Sr. was a retired Marine and they thought I was enough like him to get the title. LOL! Even put a Bull Dog sticker on the back of my hardhat :)

7.) My husband (who was my fiance at the time) and I went for a date on the beach a few weeks before the wedding. They locked the parking lot gate and after trying for an hour to escape we gave up and slept on the beach.

Now... who to nominate. I have some great blogs I follow... but I'm wondering who will actually follow through. We'll see :)

Mrs. Yellow Hat

Jenn at A Family United

Lizzy at I'm Carried To The Table

Abby at Will & Abby's Blog

Sara at The Bailey Family

Liz at The Usticks

28th Birthday... Yikes!

2010-01-28T14:58:00.000-05:00

Susan Homemaker I am NOT! I was raised a Southern girl so in some ways I feel like I'm a failure because I'm not a better homemaker. Case and point... Tuesday was my wonderful hubby's birthday. My Southern up raising would say the house should have been cleaned and decorated, dinner cooking on the stove and the cake chilling in the ice box... BUT as I said, Susan Homemaker I am not (although I am trying). In reality the house was half cleaned and half decorated, the cheesecake was in the oven and dinner... well... the ingredients were on the counter. Sigh. Fortunately my husband loves to cook so he jumped in the kitchen and helped me. How lucky am I?!?

Can I say in my own defense that I had Bible Study that morning until noon, it was raining and I had to go to 4 stores to get all the ingredients for dinner (not to mention Justin was suppose to bring breakfast to his Bible Study the next morning... which meant buying all the fixings to make breakfast for 15 men!). I kind of felt like I was doing pretty good just having picked up the clutter and gotten the cheesecake going.

I eventually finished decorating...

Did I mention we broke out the China and Crystal? Yup, we dined on fine china and a plastic table cloth. Yikes! Don't tell my mom! I think I'm going to have to sew a Birthday table cloth... but that's a whole other topic. I'm open to any suggestions or ideas on the Birthday table cloth idea.

Here's the birthday boy! He's finally my age again... 28. I'm so proud to say I robbed the cradle... by 5 months ;)

Yummm! Cheesecake! We're still enjoying it. Thank goodness I have an elliptical now! Random thought... is it me or is it kind of cool the way the "8" melted???

After our friend left, Justin got to open his gifts. What do you think of the tie I got him???

What, you thought I was serious?!? No no. My family is huge on regifting and this is from my dad. I'm going to guess that the tie is older than Justin. LOL...

Justin's parents sent him this...

As soon as he opened it he said, "You've got to be kidding! They're making them for my birth year now?!? Man I feel old!" Poor baby. Imagine how he's going to feel next year when it's the end of his 20's. Sigh. Where did they go?!?

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-27T18:41:00.000-05:00

Yup, that's our kitty Angel. We're so proud!

A Memory For Monday - Sleeping in a Train Station

2010-01-25T16:20:00.003-05:00

Where do I even begin this story. Back in 2005 as I was preparing to leave for Navy OCS (Officer Candidate School), I decided to spend some time traveling. I had a good friend, Emma, who was based in Sicily so my dad donated the frequent flier miles... and away I went for a 12 day trip to Italy.

Keep in mind we were both single and not into planning (something I'm not sure I can still claim)... so we caught an overnight train to Rome with no plans of where we were going or how long we were staying. Are you cringing yet? The only thing set was we had 1 week before Emma had to be back at work. This was me on the train to Rome. Yeah, we're breaking out the archives here. Yes my hair was somewhat blonde and I was SUPER tan after spending 10 days in Hawaii :) Oh how I miss the days of having a tan... but I digress.

That little bag on the bed with me, was the ONLY bag I took with me to Rome! This is a point I'm extremely proud of! The bag was only 14" long! I couldn't fit my toiletries in that any longer. How did we make that work? We each packed 2 shirts and we swapped shirts.

We were hopscotching our way home with a stay in Naples. We left Naples in the evening, planning on catching the overnight train back to Sicily. While we were waiting at the train station in Naples the local Policia saw us sitting there and told us it was not safe for us to be sitting there alone. Fabulous. He offered to let us come stay in the Security Office. Yup, I have the picture to prove it! The were nice folks and we were just thankful for a warm place to wait for the train.

We departed Naples and had to switch trains in Salerno. No big deal, right? Wrong. The schedule was confusing so we asked a Policia which train we needed to be on... he gave us bad gouge and we ended up missing our train. Now, I will say the train stations in Italy are beautiful and made of marble... not a bad place to be stranded for the night, right? We settled into a corner and snuggled in on each other trying to stay warm because that marble floor can really suck the warmth out of your body!

When we woke we discovered the local homeless population also likes sleeping in the train station. Okay... homeless people, no big deal and it wasn't... until they saw that we had food. Suddenly we're surrounded by 2-3 homeless people. We're still sitting on the floor and they're standing over us speaking very angrily in Italian. Emma tells me they want our food... and by this point I'm getting nervous. I told my friend to give me the word and I would take out their knee caps (and YES, I was so serious! I had spent the past 7 months having a trainer kick my butt so I had no doubt I could take them down and out run the rest of them). We somehow mangaged to extract ourselves from that situation and went wandering down the street to a local Bar that I found earlier. This just keeps getting better, right? No. In Italy a Bar is a coffee house. I'm very relived to tell you after 2-3 hours in the Bar we finally caught our train and arrived back in Sicily... with the memory of the night we slept with the hobos in an Italian train station.

What Makes A Friend...

2010-01-24T17:17:00.000-05:00

The past day I've been doing a lot of thinking. What makes someone a good friend? Better yet, what are the criteria for someone to be given the title "friend"? How do I show my friends that I love them and cherish them?

One of my dearest friends lives back in Virginia. Being on the opposite coast, we don't get to spend time together... but I still cherish our friendship... but what is it about our friendship that makes it so special? I finally figured out the answer. Our friendship can be described in one word: blessing. She's a woman who views her actions in terms of blessing. Is this a blessing on my marriage? Is this a blessing on my husband? Will this bless my friend? I love that about her and as I've tried to start changing my thought process to that, I've been amazed at what God has revealed to me. When we seek to bestow Christ's love and favor and encourage someone... how could it not results in great things?!?

So what brought this up? Over the past year, I've struggled with discerning who my genuine friends are. Just over a year ago we experienced our first miscarriage. We were devastated but the lingering hurt came from the hurtful/poorly chosen words of friends. It took me a long time to truly forgive but the Lord is mighty. Then 4 months ago we experienced our second miscarriage. We turned to the Fellowship Group we were leading for support and encouragement. Our grief was great and we need our friends to come along side. Instead, they avoided us me. It was the day after the D&C, I didn't know up from down... so I went to our group meeting... and I cried for 5 hours after we got home. This was a group that we had poured our hearts into for the last year but when we turned to them for encouragement and love... there was little. After that night we made the decision to leave the group. My husband did meet with the group and tell them the reason we were leaving... but we never heard from anyone. Over the next few months, a few people eventually called but it was as if nothing had ever happened. I was still going through the lingering physical effects of the miscarraige... I felt like all the emotions I was feeling were invalidated.

I've been blessed as God has revealed to me who my true friends are. These are friends that have spoken God's promises over me, who have reminded me of His faithfulness and love, who have prayed faithfully for us, and sought to be a blessing on us. I can't describe how amazing it is to have friends who seek to be a blessing!! I can't describe the joy in my heart when they remind me of God's promises.

By now you must be wondering what brought all this on. One of the ladies in the group called and wanted to get together. She felt that we were mad at them and was insistent that we meet to discuss what was wrong. So we went... and I wish I hadn't. While I'm sure she thought she was being a friend, her words stung and were insulting. It was a day that was anything but a blessing. There was no encouragement, just poorly chosen words that hurt. I finally felt like I had gotten out of the pit that I fell in with the last miscarriage, only to be pushed back in yesterday.

I struggled having a heart of worship and receiving God's word today... because my heart is hurt. Through the past year the Lord has shown me what a friend is... and I can only pray that I'm a better friend because of this hurt. A friend is someone who is a blessing. So how can you bless one of your friends today? How can you encourage them and remind them of God's faithfulness???

An Odd House

2010-01-21T18:47:00.000-05:00

After surviving the jean shopping experience, we decided to visit the Winchester Mystery House. This house is testament to what happens when a person has too much money and time on their hands... and doesn't know the Lord.

Mrs. Winchester married Oliver Winchester... as in the Winchester revolving rifle. He was actually the son of the companies founder. Anyway, Mrs. Winchester's only child died at 6 weeks of age. 15 years later her husband died of TB. Apparently Mrs. Winchester was convinced the spirits of all those killed by the Winchester rifle were haunting her... so she went to a medium (as in spirits and what not) who told her to buy a house out west and turn it into a great house for the spirits. As long as construction never ceased, her life would be safe. So she did. Every night she would have a saence and based on what the spirits told her, those were the construction plans for the next day. 33 years later and $5M... you can only guess the oddities that exist. Doors that lead to no where, stairs that lead to the ceiling, etc.

Odd. As a Construction Manager, I cringed at the thought of building based on something sketched on a napkin.

So we've checked the box and have the picture to prove we were there. Does this mean we can move now???

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-20T19:54:00.001-05:00

A Minor Rant of Jean Shopping

2010-01-19T21:34:00.000-05:00

Jeans shopping... I have yet to meet a woman who enjoys this task. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy shopping... just not for jeans (or any pant for that matter). It's been 2 years since I bought jeans. Did I mention I don't like shopping for them. Alas, denial was futile. My jeans have holes and are on their final stretch so my loving husband braved the storm to drive take me to the mall in San Jose.

I managed to find some jeans that seemed to fit well but then it happened. I would turn around to inspect the back. Yes I would have the realization that I really could afford more time working out but that wasn't the problem... well, yes it is a problem but not the subject of this rant. I think we need review with the designers basic human anatomy... the thigh and the tush are not the same body part. While I recognize that for some people the difference can be hard to discern, there is a difference. SO can someone please tell me why the bottom of the pocket on the back was on my thigh?!?

I kept running into this problem. While in one store the sales clerk, nice older woman, asked me how the clothes were working out. "Um, okay I guess but I have a question. Why is the pocket on my thigh? I've already got plenty of tushy, I really don't need it being elongated and made to look even larger! Why don't they just move the pocket up 2 inches??" Oh yes, she got more that she expected. I was quite polite about it but 1.) she asked and 2.) if I have to suffer through this, the store is going to hear my thoughts.

I spent the rest of the day checking out other ladies jeans and have resigned myself to this just being the style for now but SERIOUSLY?!? I gave up and bought the cheaper of the less flattering jeans. There were no tears or melt downs and only a minor chocolate indulgence afterwards.

Have I mentioned that our elliptical trainer can't come soon enough???

A Stormy Day At The Coast

2010-01-17T21:15:00.000-05:00

So my husband is going to school at the Navy Postgraduate School... which naturally means the Air Force and Army personnel go to school here, right?! Yeah, I was a little confused about that at first. So imagine how much greater my confusion was when I found out civilians (a very select few) and international soldiers also go to NPS!

A few months ago Justin came home and asked if I would be okay to sign up as a sponsor for international students. After a few questions were answered I was on board. We were assigned our first international student in August. Thun is from South Sudan and came here with another friend Africano... who didn't have a sponsor so we sort of adopted him.

SIDENOTE: For those who don't know, in 1983 Sudan's civil war began. It is estimated that 2,000,000 South Sudanese were killed in the genocide that ensued. In 2005 a peace treaty was signed that gives South Sudan autonomy for 6 years and at the end of the time, there will be a referendum for succession. In other words, NEXT YEAR there is suppose to be this referendum... and Thun and Africano will be back in their country. Makes my stomach turn thinking what could happen. One last interesting tid bit... in 1996 Osama Bin Laden was kicked out of South Sudan and moved his "organization" to Afghanistan.

SO... Thun and Africano are soldiers in the South Sudanese army and here for a year of training. Their neighbor is Frank... who is from Malawi. Frank's wife and 4 year old daughter were just able to join him here. None of them have cars so yesterday, Justin and I decided to take them on a picnic down the coast. The storm front was approaching so it was cold and windy... the little one was so cold... but we had a great time. We got some fabulous pictures of a very rough Pacific Ocean. I love watching waves... especially big ones!

We invited our other sponsor students (a couple from South Korea)... but they were heading to Las Vegas for the 3 day weekend. We're looking forward to hearing their thoughts on that town! LOL.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A Belated Christmas Gift...

2010-01-15T18:18:00.000-05:00

The other day, Justin and I received a... well...err... we'll just call it a belated Christmas gift. Want to guess who it was from???

That's right, the IRS. Don't you just "love" them. This is an organization whose employees don't know the regulations they're suppose to enforce, but God help you if you dare try and point that out to them. I sometimes wonder if they send their employees to other countries (like Russia, China, Iran and Venezuela) for training in "customer service".

Think I'm being too hard on them? My family has a long ~~sordid~~ entertaining history of fighting the IRS... or maybe I should say my dad has the history! He's never lost a fight but I remember one that took 10 years for the IRS to admit they were wrong and then another 5 years for them to waive the "interest and penalties" on the money that had never been owed!!! Is that not insane! Did I mention that my dad loves this sort of thing? If you've ever met him, you know. He actually ENJOYS audits! Last time they tried to come after him was post Katrina. Katrina hit in August 2005... and as a result the tax deadline for Katrina affected areas was extended. The problem is the same people that don't read the healthcare bill before passing it, didn't read the revised tax code for 2005 before issuing it. SO, instead of extending the taxes to February 2007... it "extended them to February 2006. Did you catch that? Yup, it moved UP the deadline 2 months. Typos happen but try getting someone in the IRS to apply logic and figure that out. Even once they recognized the problem, they couldn't do anything about it and told him to go to tax court! It probably took 2 years for everything to get straightened out... and then, my dad sent them a bill for the time he had spent resolving the issue with them. I don't know if he ever collected (I wouldn't put it past his ability)... but I love the thought of sending a bill to the IRS, don't you?

I love getting the mail in November and December... but come January... ugh. Things like this

keep finding their way into our mailbox. I really must talk with our mailman about this. Sigh. And yes, we did get 2 Form 1098s... for house 1 and condo 2. Can you say "tax write off"???

How is it "the most wonderful time of the year" is followed by tax season?!?

Loving 2010

2010-01-14T13:59:00.000-05:00

Justin and I enjoy watching Biggest Loser. I get excited each time a new seasons starts up. Most Tuesday nights we flop down on the couch with brownies or ice cream to enjoy while we watch the contestants get their tails kicked in the gym... but this week, we added a touch of class. This week we enjoyed this...

while we watched the show :)

A little sidenote.... don't you just love popping open champagne? I love letting the cork fly through the air, although our cats don't enjoy having a projectile fall on them. Only afterwards do I consider the possibility of ceiling damage. Normally Justin exercise great self control but this week, he decided to give the cork a flight lesson ;)

Mmmmm.

By now you're probably amazed that we popped open the bubbly to celebrate Biggest Loser, right? Maybe not if you know us. That wasn't the reason. We actually did have a reason to celebrate. Many of you have been so faithful in praying over us these last 14 weeks as my body has recovered from the latest miscarriage. Yup, it's been 14 weeks. My body decided to take it's time removing the hormones (specifically the Hcg which is a pregnancy hormone) from my system. After countless trips to the lab and many bruises and tears later, we finally got the news we've been waiting for on Tuesday. My levels are at ZERO!!! Woo hoo!

For me, this was huge because it's given me closure. Thank you Jesus.

We're so excited to be moving on... but I have this reminder of the baby we'll meet one day in heaven.

Have I mentioned grateful I was to be done with 2009? HELLO 2010!

Luggage Tag

2010-01-11T14:25:00.001-05:00

When I was growing up we use to travel a lot. My mom was born and raised in California and all her family still lived there... so every summer we flew to San Francisco. Traveling was different back then. We didn't roll into the airport in our pajamas with our hair disheveled and looking like we were hung over... and we certainly made sure our underwear was never shown to fellow travelers! I hear that this phenomenom is called a "whale tail"... drives me crazy but back to my story. Rather we were in our Sunday's best... a dress, normally tights or stockings (so you didn't get too cold). I remember running down the concourse many times with my church shoes in my hands because we had to run to catch our plane! When I was in Jr. High I was finally allowed to start wearing pants on the plane but only after my mom heard a story from a friend. The story involved an emergency landing, the slides on the airplane (since they wouldn't let the plane pull up to the concourse)... and a dress that was up around the woman's neck when she got to the bottom of the slide :) LOL. Pants! Not jeans... but pants! Talk about shaking things up!

I remember my mom would never let us get to close to the baggage carousel once it started moving, mainly because she didn't want us in the way. Back then they had someone who you had to show your luggage claim to before you left the airport with your bag. Wow! How much has changed!

When the airlines pulled the employees who verified no one left with a bag that wasn't theirs... is when the ugly yarns started getting tied to the suitcases. I guess the logic was that if someone was trying to leave with your suitcase you would notice... but for this to work meant it wasn't just yarn tied to the suitcase... oh no, it was the loudest, brightest, most embarrassing colored yarn or ribbon! Maybe that's why I've rebelled and refuse to tie anything to my suitcase. My way of easily spotting my bag... luggage tags! I try to find nice but unique tags that make our bags easy to spot.... and here's my most recent addition:

Do you get it? I laughed so much when I found this! Perhaps I enjoy dry humor too much... but laughing makes the heart merry... so laugh away friends!

A New Twist On Breakfast

2010-01-05T16:30:00.000-05:00

Do you love Williams-Sonoma? I do. I love wondering through it and seeing all the fun gadgets they have... and occasionally we'll splurge and buy something from them. It's like a grown-up's candy shop!

A few days before Christmas we had a box delivered from Williams-Sonoma. Woohoo!!! We had no idea what was in it... but that didn't matter... it was FROM Williams-Sonoma! On Christmas Day I handed the box to my husband to open... I was torn between wanting to know what was in it or who it was from! The box inside the box had a very official design and said "NORDICWARE" and was heavy. Ooooh. Without further ado Justin tore into and we found our very own Ebelskiver pan! So what is an Ebelshiver?

THIS....

So the less "learned" people (aka- Americans. Doesn't that sound so snobby?) might call them a stuffed pancake... and yeah, that's pretty much what they are... but I love how strange and fancy Ebelskiver sounds. I think this may be a new family tradition! This batch was filled with homemade strawberry jam... and they were super yummy! Now that we have this new toy, I think we might need this for inspiration :)

What's A Girl To Do?

2010-01-03T18:43:00.000-05:00

Those who know me have had to listen to a fair amount of lamenting the lack of shopping here in Monterey. Let me just say that while I'm not a big city girl... I'm not a small town girl either. I would likely never survive living in New York City or Los Angeles... I know that! But moving to a small town like Monterey was quite the culture shock. I cried the first few months... and then it happened. I discovered that we had a 2nd Target... and it wasn't ghetto like the other one!!! OH HAPPY DAY!!! It was one of my first few smiles after moving here.

What's a girl to do??? Catalog shop. One of my friends has been introducing me to various catalogs... and one them is Ballards. While I love looking through Ballard's catalog, there's no way I can afford most of it.

SIDENOTE: Apparently I'm not the only woman living here who has been driven to catalog shopping. I've heard husband's refer to Potterybarn and other such catalogs as "Housewife Porn". LOL!

Back to my point. We don't have a fireplace or any shelves downstairs to display pictures... but I did have a bare wall in the dining room just crying out to be decorated. I fell in love with these shelves:

But at a price of $110+ tax and shipping... I just couldn't justify spending that much money for a shelf. However, I do have quite the crafty husband who has been enjoying 3 weeks off from school and looking for projects... so I decided to ask him if he could build it for me. The next morning he was at Home Depot (honestly, I think he'll do anything for me if I let him go to Home Depot and drool over all the tools)... and here's the end product!

Ok... I realize it's not decorated with pretty stuff like the catalog picture (and those institution white walls add so much!)... but I love it! It looks so much like the one from the catalog (but for about 1/3 the price)! I can't wait to decorate it up now!

Intangible Christmas Gift

2009-12-30T23:04:00.001-05:00

Have you seen the movie "Ultimate Gift". We were at a Family Christian store on Black Friday, picking up a few gifts, when I stumbled onto this movie. We decided to get it on a lark... and it was such a wonderful, heart warming movie! If you've never seen it... go check out THIS trailer! In the movie, Jason is left a series of gifts by his grandfather which lead to the ultimate gift. Some of the gifts were the gift of work, the gift of friendship, the gift of giving, the gift of laughter, the gift of family...

In keeping with this theme, on Christmas morning my wonderful husband left the following card in my stocking... it says, "For my bride on Christmas, On the theme of intangible gifts I give you the gift of perspective. ~Your Husband"

So wrong... and funny!

J&J Life - Christmas Edition

2009-12-26T13:35:00.000-05:00

Countdown With J&J

7 days til' 2010

31 days til' Justin's Birthday

6 months til' we move from Monterey!!!

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Family Updates

Justin - finished another quarter of grad school and is officialy 75% through... if you discount that pesky little thing known as a thesis. Justin is never without a project and he started his 3 week Christmas break by building a Gingerbread Cathedral (pictures below)... and no, it wasn't a kit. He designed, baked and built it from scratch!

Jen - is so ready to get all the pine needles out of the house! The Christmas tree is likely enjoying it's last day in the house. She's also been enjoying all the Christmas movies showing this time of year :)

Blue & Angel - have been enjoying chewing on the Christmas tree, playing with the ornaments/ribbons and playing hide and seek in the presents. They made the cutest Santa and Reindeer (see pictures below)... although they can get a little temperamental.

News

No news to report... but we're hoping and praying that next week we'll be able to share the news that God has finally answered our prayers and Jen's pregnancy hormone levels have finally gone to zero. We'll know come Tuesday.

What's Been Happening the Past 3 Weeks...
Justin has had the past 2 weeks off from school and our vacation started with a visit from his parents. Their visit was fairly uneventful but we did drive down to Hearst Castle which was quite interesting. It was great to spend time with them and we even had nice weather!

Last Christmas was spent on the road. I think we drove close to 3,000 miles in less than 2 weeks! We spent a week in Sacramento with my family (with 2 trips to Lake Tahoe), came home on Christmas Eve and left the day after Christmas way too early for the drive to Phoenix (about 14 hours). All that to say, we were exhausted and decided that this year we would not be traveling. We spent a quiet Christmas at home which was wonderful. Our church held Christmas Eve service and afterwards we were planning on heading over to Candy Cane Lane to see the Christmas lights. Candy Cane Lane is actually a series of streets that are all decorated for the holidays. Some friends from church live there and offered to let us park in the driveway. When we got to their house they hurried us in for Christmas Eve dinner! Wow! We were thinking the mozzarella sticks we had eaten earlier were going to be our dinner! We enjoyed a wonderful evening of friendship and lights which was such a blessing.

Christmas was spent at home but we did go over to our neighbor's house for lunch. K&M are from Texas (which is probably one of the reasons we like them so much) and have become good friends this past year. They also have 3 precious little girls and we loved getting to spend sometime around children on Christmas Day. Justin and I were to bring desert... and when it comes to choosing a desert in our house, you would think you were listening to a UN Security Counsel meeting!!! I love to bake and

Justin being the gourmet chef... well, you can see where the problem can come in ;) As we were trying to decide on a desert I was thinking back to my childhood and then it came to me... a Buche de Noel!!! These are also known as Yule Logs and are a French desert that was tradition when I was growing up in New Orleans. For our first attempt, I was very pleased with the result!

And so that brings us to today, the day after Christmas. No shopping for us but I do think the Christmas tree will be served an eviction notice :) We hope you've had a wonderful Christmas celebrating Jesus!

Grocery Shopping Tuesday

2009-12-08T23:49:00.003-05:00

Today was grocery shopping day. I try to shop the perimeter of the store and avoid the boxed foods... and I usually do pretty well.
With a few exceptions...

Does the fact that it's organic count for anything?

J&J Life

2009-12-01T18:51:00.011-05:00

Countdown With J&J

16 days til' Justin's parents come for a visit
17 days til' Finals are over and another Quarter is done
24 days til' Christmas

31 days til' 2010!!

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Family Updates

Justin - is almost through another quarter of grad school. 6 down, 2 more to go before he'll graduate with a Masters in Applied Physics. I'm so impressed by how smart he is and I pray our children will get his brains. He's started working on his thesis project and seems to be making headway on it.

Jen - has been enjoying decorating the house for the holidays and baking all kinds of yummy holiday cookies (although my thighs are hating me right now). The recovery from this last miscarriage has been so slow and as a result I battle discouragement weekly. We're praying that my body will be able to rid itself of the remaining Hcg (aka- pregnancy hormone) and that we'll be able to gain closure and continue healing.

Blue & Angel - are so very excited about having a Christmas tree up with all kinds of new toys (aka- ornaments)! They're especially grateful that we placed the tree next to the couch so they could reach the ornaments that are higher up!

News

Justin got word a few weeks ago that we should receive orders no later than February to our next duty station... San Diego! I still wish we were going back east but we're both very excited to be leaving Monterey.

Whats been happening over the month...

We hadn't planned on traveling for the holidays but as Thanksgiving approached I decided that I really needed a distraction during the holiday... so we made plans to drive to Sacramento to spend the holiday with Aunty Donna and Uncle Stephen. We celebrated a scaled back Thanksgiving feast but enjoyed each dish and the relaxing holiday. Justin cooked yet another fabulous turkey (and no, he didn't "harvest" one of the neighborhood turkeys).

We drove home on Saturday evening trying to avoid the horrendous traffic on Sunday. So thankful we avoided all that traffic! Sunday after church I asked Justin if we could go get a Christmas tree. Last year we didn't get a tree since we were traveling so much so I was eager to decorate our tree. We made the trek to a tree farm about 40 minutes away and found this tree! You should have seen the kids trying to take our picture! He couldn't figure out our camera since you have to look through the view finder! Ha ha! So the tree is up and decorated... and I'm hoping we avoid the debacle from 2 years ago when this happened...

Yup... we came home from church 3 days before Christmas to find this. Justin has enhanced the tree stand since then so we're hoping this doesn't happen again... but the cats are extremely interested. Only time will tell :)

Family Time in Palm Springs

2009-11-04T11:07:00.006-05:00

A few months ago my dad mentioned on the phone that they were heading to a timeshare in Palm Springs the last week of October. Since my parents live in Louisiana, anytime they come this close I try to see them. So down to Palm Springs we went last Friday. My aunt and uncle were also there and we had a wonderful time with everyone.

The weather was in the low 90s (gorgeous!) and we loved getting to wear sandals and enjoyed the sun! Saturday we went to a WWII air museum. The volunteers that work there are so passionate about the aircraft and so very knowledgeable... and a few of the volunteers even flew them back in WWII!! Amazing! Justin enjoyed talking pilot talk with them, especially Mr. O.B. who flew 29 different aircraft!

Saturday evening we celebrated my uncle's 35th birthday (looking good Uncle Stephen!) before enjoying the extra hour of sleep. Unfortunately, everyone else had to leave early on Sunday morning... so Justin and I went driving and found a Vista Drive that takes you up a mountain so you can see the valley. Talk about a strange site! This little patch of green in the middle of a desert. Apparently Palm Springs is on top of an aquifur but they've used so much of the water already, that the city is literally sinking! Ah well... that's California for you... they only have 50 years of water left but they're watering the grass daily. Makes no sense to me.

So before I forget, while we were visiting the museum, there was this 14 year old boy who kept going on and on about all the things he's learned about WWII. His mom was trying to silence him and drag him off but we were all just impressed that someone his age knew history! The volunteer told us two stories (worth recounting) about the lesser informed people who have visited the museum.

Story #1: A volunteer was talking about the plane that was used in the Dolittle raids on Japan when a couple (in their 40s) starts in that the US bombed Japan and that's how the war started. The volunteer was shocked and tried to correct them... that's how the war ended but this couple was adament that the US was the agressor. So then I had to ask "where were they from". The answer says it all... Berkeley.

Story #2: A teacher brought her 8th grade history class to the museum. When they got there the teacher stood up in front of her students and said "We're here today to learn about the airplanes used in World War 11." The volunteers nearly fell over they were so shocked! When one of them corrected her and said "it's World war 2... not World War 11" she insisted. "The sign out front says World War 11." Those are Roman Numerals, not 1s. Anyone else scared?!? I wonder if she ever wondered where World Wars 3-10 occurred. Somehow this teacher got an undergrad degree and is teaching our children... about World War 11. Sigh.

The Tale of Two Friends

2009-10-29T11:45:00.002-04:00

The day we found out the baby had died I sent emails or text messages to our closest friends asking for prayer. That night as our dear friends John and Tracy were praying together the Lord placed on Tracy's heart a need to come out here. Her loving husband agreed and called us the next day to ask if that would be okay and a blessing for us. I started crying when I found this out. What an answered prayer! Just the night before I had been crying (as only a hormonal woman can do) because I only have a couple friends out here... and missing all our good friends back in Virginia.

So Tracy and Baby John flew out here last week for a 4 day visit. The Lord blessed our visit with nice weather and precious conversations. Tracy was such an encouragement and I miss them already. Here are pictures from our visit...

The first day we kind of laid low while Tracy and Baby John transitioned to the new time zone (they didn't get to our house until after 1am). We went to the commissary... and let me just say, if anyone wants to feel like they've stepped back in the 1970's... visit our commissary! Ha ha. Yup, it's that bad. Tracy's reaction was priceless... "Oh. Wow. Okay." I'm grateful to have it and have learned to lower my standards... but I also can't wait to move back to an area with a major military concentration and a giant commissary (or 2).

Day #2 we went to Chateau Julien, a vineyard and winery in Carmel Valley, for a tour and wine tasting. The weather was gorgeous (although Baby John thought it was a little warm)... and the wine was lovely. They haven't harvested this vineyard yet so the grapes were all still on the vine and they tasted yummy! Yes, we tried the grapes :)

Day #3 we drove out quite a distance to Hollister to see Swank Farms and the pumpkin patch. I had no clue that pumpkins are covered with little stickers in the patch. What a surprise we got when we grabbed the first pumpkin! :) We enjoyed watching the pumpkin sling shot and wandering the pumpkin patch but decided against the giant corn maze since the sun was beating down and we didn't want the baby to sunburn. I can't wait to have kids that we can do all these fun fall activities with!

Day #4... Sunday. Church was a very encouraging and motivating time. We heard a missionary talk about Madagascar... what a great way to conclude Mission's Month at the church! Afterwards we were happy to see the fog burning off so we went down to Cannery Row for lunch and then took a short drive down Highway 1 to show Tracy the California Coast (so different from the East Coast!). The wind was blowing very hard... but that didn't stop us from taking a few pictures :) I love the blue water of the ocean!

I was sad to see them leave but my spirit was so encouraged. I can't wait to go back to the East Coast to visit with them again!

2009-10-19T12:19:00.003-04:00

Sigh. I've been putting off having to write about this. As you probably know, two weeks ago I went into the OB because I was suffering from a kidney infection. In the course of checking on the baby, my doctor discovered that our little had died. I should have been 13 weeks pregnant. We were finally starting to feel good about this pregnancy thinking this one is here to stay... and with that feeling we were finally letting ourselves get excited.

Some days it feels like a dream... like I was never pregnant at all... and then there are the days where the pain of losing our baby is too much to bear. I saw this baby's heartbeat, I saw this little one move... there are days when I can't believe we're going through this again.

My doctor called it a missed miscarriage... meaning the baby had died but my body failed to recognize it and was continuing with the pregnancy. The placenta had continued to grow so I had a massive sac and he recommended a D&C... which I agreed to (and this turns out to be a blessing as you will soon read why).

I had asked the OB "what went wrong"... and was told we may never know. Then I got a call from him last week I knew nothing good was going to come from the call. He told me the pathology report had come back and it was a partial molar pregnancy... and my heart stopped. I've known one person that's had a molar pregnancy and I knew this was a bad thing... a thing that could delay our quest for a family for a while. While we still have so many questions that we need answered... and I'm not sure we'll ever fully understand how this happened, I'll try to explain what we do know.

A partial molar pregnancy is a pregnancy when a baby forms but something goes wrong and the placenta becomes a tumor and eventually kills the baby. From what I have read, this happens one of two ways... 2 sperm fertilize one egg and either cause 1 baby with 69 chromosomes (these babies tend to have severe birth defects and die) or it results in a twin pregnancy where one of the babies is healthy and the other is a mole (i.e.- no baby just a placenta). The placentas in a molar pregnancy grows and produce crazy levels of hormones... which my doctor said explains why I was so extremely sick with this pregnancy. This also explains why the placenta continued growing after the baby died and why the placenta was so large for how far along I was.

So here's the catch... because these placentas are tumors, they like to seed into the lining of the uterus. A D&C is necessary because this way the lining of the uterus is also removed. My doctor told me the good news is that with a partial molar pregnancy, 99% of the time a D&C gets rid of all the cells... but because there's a small chance that cells remain behind, he recommends waiting at least a few months before we try to get pregnant again. I have weekly labs drawn to monitor my Hcg levels (the pregnancy hormone) and we're praying that it goes back to zero quickly. Once they reach zero, I have to continue getting labs drawn for an additional month to make sure the levels stay zero. If any cells remain, they'll start growing a new placenta and my Hcg level would rise... so if the level stays zero for 1 month, it's considered safe to proceed forward.

I won't say I'm not stressed by the thought that this nightmare may not be over... and I'm not a patient person so learning to wait is not easy for me. I'm still so confused and have so many questions. We've gotten to the point where I have good days and bad (an improvement from a week ago where things changed by the hour).

I read this recently on someone's blog (a lady who recently lost a baby)... and it spoke to my heart. I ache for the baby we'll never hold... but I look forward to being united in heaven. Praise God that we have that hope.

"Satan is no gentleman for sure, he doesn't back off when we are hurting or when the unimaginable has happened to us - he came at me with everything he had with lie after lie...he tried to get me to believe that my life was over, that we wouldn't have happiness again, and that we shouldn't have other children. Thankfully, our great GOD pursued me even harder..."

God has been gracious me in this trial... protecting my heart so I don't harden it to Him, surrounding me with the love of friends and an amazing husband. Please continue to pray for us. We desperately covet the prayers of the saints as we walk through this trail... confident in our God's ability to meet all our needs and minister to our spirits.

"I Will Rise"

There's a peace I've come to know.

Though my heart and flesh may fail.

There's an anchor for my soul.

I can say "It is well."

Jesus has overcome and the grave is overwhelmed.

The victory is won, He is risen from the dead.

And I will rise when He calls my name.

No more sorrow no more pain.

I will rise on eagle's wings.

Before my God fall on my knees.

There's day a that's drawing near.

When this darkness breaks to light.

And the shadows disapear

And my faith shall be my eyes.

Jesus has overcome

And the grave is overwhelmed

The victory is won

He is risen from the dead

I will rise when He calls my name

No more sorrow, no more pain

I will rise on eagles' wings

Before my God, fall on my knees

And rise

I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing, "worthy is the Lamb"

And I hear the cry of every longing heart, "worthy is the Lamb"

Week 11

2009-09-30T17:38:00.002-04:00

11 weeks! Amazing! Our baby has grown from the length of a poppyseed to the length of a lime! Wow! That boggles my mind! What's more amazing is that God already knows if this is a little boy or girl... when they're going to be born, how many hairs there will be on their head, and so much more!

I'm finally starting to feel a little better. The morning sickness is still daily but not all day which is a welcome change. I'm also starting to get the slightest bump... but you'll have to wait for pictures :) I think I might have Justin take a picture next week but we'll see.

Apple Season

2009-09-28T19:24:00.008-04:00

Fall is here (as far as I'm concerned)... and with the fall comes apple season! This year Justin and I have become big fans of a local farm where you can "pik yur self". During the summer we picked strawberries and ollalieberries (a blackberry/boysenberry hybrid)... and now, we've enjoyed their apple orchard! And yes... that is the slightest beginning of a tummy. Yikes!

Yummy! These were the Red Delicious Apples. I don't know why... but I was surprised that the apples were so dull and dingy while on the tree.

We exercised great self control and only picked 20 pounds of apples... which was still A LOT of apples! So what exactly does one do with so many apples???

Make APPLE BUTTER!!! We made about 20 jars of apple butter to give away as Christmas gifts. I was surprised how simple it was... and it tastes SO YUMMY!

REVISION #1 - Here's the Apple Butter Recipe...

5 lbs of apples

2 cups of apple juice

Sugar

1 tsp ground cloves

3/4 tsp allspice

3 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp nutmeg

Peel, slice and core the apples. Add the apple juice and cook slowly until apples are soft. Put through a food mill. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cups of sugar per cup of pulp (about 3 cups of sugar). Add spices. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Continue to cook until mixture sheets from spoon.

Big Change

2009-09-20T18:09:00.003-04:00

Big changes are coming to our household... in less than 7 months are kitties are going to have competition for Justin and mine attention because we're having a baby! Poor things don't know what's coming ;)

So far everything looks good. We've had a few ultrasounds and the baby is growing and seems healthy. If morning sickness is any indication of the health of the baby (as my doctor says it is)... then this must be a SUPER healthy baby! Please pray that everything will continue to go well with the little one and that the Lord will be preparing us for the most daunting task... raising a child!

Doll House Bookshelf

2009-09-12T18:52:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago a friend asked Justin if he could build her a doll house bookshelf. She had her eye on one from Potterybarn but couldn't bring herself to pay several hundred dollars for it. Justin LOVES having a new project and eagerly began working away.

A week later we were ready to deliver the semi-finished product (it will be painted at a later time).

I have such a handy husband!

The English Adventure - London

2009-08-24T12:10:00.007-04:00

This is our 4th day in England... our trip is passing rapidly! We flew into London early Monday morning (which felt like midnight to us) and after getting slightly lost, we were able to find our hotel and check in. Being the motivated travelers that we are, we decided there was no need for a nap and took off to explore London... a decision we regretted about 2 hours later as the extreme jet lag kicked in and we kept looking for dark corners to take a nap inside the Churchill War Room Museum. We did find a great pub to enjoy a fish and chip lunch at! It's always fun trying to figure out the customs in foreign countries... like do you tip when you're at a restaurant or is it already included in your bill? Thank goodness for travel books!

With only 1 1/2 days to see London, we had to keep moving! We walked by the Westminster Abbey but decided to pass on walking through. On to see Big Ben and the House of Parliament. We considered riding the London Eye but apparently it takes an hour... and again, time was not something we had a lot of (perhaps we'll do that on the backside of our trip). Along the way we stopped at countless Cafes for caffeine pick me ups in the form of Italian cappucino.

Finally, unable to go on any longer, we headed back to our hotel for so much needed sleep (we had been going for about 32 hours by the time we went to bed).

Sunday morning we got up early ready to charge hard for the few hours remaining in London. We started walking and decided to ask a Police Officer where we could find some breakfast since all the Cafes we walked by were closed. "Well it's a might early. Nothing opens until 10am". What?!

Day 2 included a walk over to Buckingham Palace and then a lovely nap in Hyde Park (we were still fighting the jet lag I think). We walked over to the Wellington Monument and then found a few main roads full of shops that we wandered through before deciding it was time to head to the train station and depart for Liverpool. The English countryside made for a lovely train ride and I'm hoping to get some pictures of the lush green hills and manors... simply spectacular.

I'm slightly disappointed that we won't have time to go explore the English countryside more... but I guess that gives us a reason to come back next year!

Guilty

2009-08-16T00:16:00.005-04:00

Justin brought me a dozen beautiful red roses for my birthday. They were splendid and I was thoroughly enjoying them... until Tuesday. As I sat at the table enjoying my dinner and staring at my lovely roses, I noticed the leaves looked like they had been through a paper shredder. What on earth?! Then I found Blue playing with some of the leaves on the floor... and it all made sense.

See, we had gotten home from the Farmer's Market a little late that evening. This meant that the kitties dinner was an hour late. Apparently the delay was unacceptable for Blue and her hunger turned her in a scavenger. She even looks guilty!

2009-08-11T00:16:00.007-04:00

Tonight we went to the Townhall Meeting with Representative Farr (D). What a lively exchange that was! I wish we had taken our camera! There were a bunch of little old ladies that led choir practice before the meeting began... or at least I'm assuming that's what they were doing. They were up in front and singing. We enjoyed many entertaining moments so we thought we would provide you with a few laughs. Enjoy...

Audience Member in Front of us: As far as I'm concerned all politicians are crooks!
Jen: I'm from Louisiana... our politicians are convicted crooks!

Farr: What do you think the single biggest cost to the government is?
Audience: PRIVATE JETS!

Audience Member: Congressman you keep quoting the gazillions of dollars insurance companies make each year. Just so you know, last year insurance companies posted a 1.5% profit compared to the Nasdaq's 5.5% profit... or do you not believe in profit? Nevermind, we know you don't since the Federal Government posts record deficits year after year!

Audience Member: Thank you for letting me talk with you tonight. I just want to let you know that the majority of Americans support this plan. (Not sure what polls he's been looking at.)

Farr: If you like your healthcare... then this doesn't apply to you because this won't affect you.

Justin: Congressman, you said that it's not the Federal Governments job to legislate Tort Reform... that this is a State issue but if the Federal Government can legislate other things that are "State issues" via funding, why not Tort Reform?
Farr: Up to this time there hasn't been much interest in Tort Reform. (This was met with a series of boos.)

While we were waiting in the line to get in, we listened to this little old lady behind us rail. "I honestly don't know what's the matter with people! Why wouldn't you support this! I don't want to be kept alive on machines. Pull the plug! I'm also in favor of euthanasia."
Justin: Hilter was too!
(After this she proceeded to talk about the cortisone shot she was going to get for her achy hip... awww the irony!)

Audience Member: Congressman the CBO report states that this healthcare reform bill will cost us $1T. Since the CBO is supposedly a bipartisan group, how do you explain this.
Farr: Yeah, I was surprised by that number. See the thing to understand is that the accountants don't give us credit for the savings!

It was a night to remember...

Being Used By God

2009-08-03T18:01:00.003-04:00

This weekend was Spirit West Coast out here. What is Spirit West Coast? A giant music festival! This year they had Mercy Me, David Crowder Band, Toby Mac and so many others!

Justin and I were contacted by the Head of the Ministry Department asking if our OCF (Officer Christian Fellowship) Bible Study might be able to help with the Altar Call. After several weeks of praying about it, about 13 of us volunteered. Let me say that walking up to total strangers and talking about Jesus can be quite intimidating and there were many of us feeling overwhelmed and hesitant as the festival drew near... but after the first night, all hesitation was gone and we were on fire!

The main speaker was Nick Vujicic, a 26 year old man with no arms or legs. He was a dynamic speaker! Despite having no limbs Nick swims, surfs and travels the world ministering to the hurting! As he said, "I will boldly stand before the gates of hell and redirect traffic!"... and that's exactly what he did this weekend! He redirected traffic to the Pearly Gates... and we were used by God to catch these Baby Christians and welcome them into the family of God. Each night I was amazed by the number of people who raised their hands to accept Jesus or recommit their lives! Some nights it was plain overwhelming! Some of us found ourselves talking to 3... 5... or even 10 people during each evening's altar call!

We had quite the weekend...

Show Us Your Life - Bridal Party & Flowers

2009-07-30T18:26:00.012-04:00

This week's Show & Tell time at Kelly's Korner features the Bridal Party and Wedding Flowers.

Justin and I had known for a while that we were going to be married... and by a while, I mean a good 3-4 weeks :) The problem was logistics. I was suppose to deploy to Iraq in mid-October and he was going to finish F/A-18 training the end of October and get a squadron assignment. The only way to make sure he didn't get moved to Japan... get married before I leave! Before he had even asked my father's permission we told them "by the way, we're getting married September 2nd". What a great way to start the introductions! Like any loving parents they jumped on board.

The day after we got engaged I headed to David's Bridal to pick out my dress... but the plan changed when we got there. Turns out Bridesmaids dresses can take 6-8 weeks to come in and we only had 7 weeks until the wedding. Most of my bridesmaids were married to military men so I wanted to pick a color that 1.) they could wear year round to a military ball and 2.) didn't clash horribly with the carpet in the Chapel. Isn't it strange the things we have to consider? By the way... one of my bridesmaids has worn her dress to a military ball... so yes! A bridesmaid dress that has been worn again!!! Oh yeah... the Lord totally provided! Everyone got their dress within 4 weeks!

Justin and I had decided we didn't want a large wedding party... and agreed to each having 3 attendants. I met Jen when I was working in an oil refinery in South Louisiana and immediately became friends... even though I left for the military about 5 months later. My Matron of Honor was Megan, a friend from Navy Officer Candidate School. We had spent countless hours in the sandpit doing pushups and formed quite the friendship. Sara and I met at Baylor. We both survived the engineering program and 6 years after graduating, still good friends!

Justin asked Chris to be his Best Man. Ben and my brother Ryan were his other groomsmen. Justin met Chris and Ben at Advanced Jet Training in Meridian, MS. They were roommates who made a pack not to fall for any of the local girls and miraculously, they all left un-hitched :)

We were married at the Naval Station Norfolk Base Chapel on Sunday, September 2, 2007. I loved the inside (minus the red carpet) and the atmosphere the rafters offered.

Of course, what would a military wedding be without the sword arch?! I love the pictures of the sword arch!

Before planning our wedding I read the statistic that the average wedding costs $30k. That's unbelievable to me! What a nice down payment on a house you could make with that kind of money! While my parents were very happy to pay for their only daughters wedding... there was a budget. We decided to make a lot of the flower arrangements for the reception ourselves BUT to hire a florist to make the bouquets... partly because we didn't know how to make them but more importantly we didn't have the time to make them. So my bouquet was completely goofed. It was suppose to be white roses with white Calla Lillies... but oh well. I still thought it looked lovely. The Bridesmaids bouquets were a combination of pink and red roses with white Alstromerias (I love these flowers!).

The reception hall was pretty but not ornate. I really wanted to add some color to it so we managed to find about 7 hibiscus trees (not a easy task at the end of August) and we fertilized the heck out of them in the week before the wedding to get them to bloom! We added alstromerias and some Christmas lights... and tada! We used them at the Chapel and then moved them to the reception hall.

While it's fun to look back at the photos and think of all the details that God allowed to fall into place... the best part is thinking that I now get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend!

What's for dinner?

2009-07-29T23:12:00.004-04:00

I so dislike this question. I always seem to draw a blank whenever I'm confronted with this question. Enter my new best friend:

We got this while we were at Disney World last month and it's fabulous! I'm not really one for cookbooks... especially cookbooks that call for extravagant ingredients. You know, the ingredients you have to google so that when you go to the store, you know what you're looking for. This book is relatively simple recipes with wonderful flavors and basic ingredients. Here's our latest recipe we tried:

Simply wonderful...

A Blah Day

2009-07-28T18:53:00.003-04:00

Today has been a blah day. You know... the ones where you just don't
feel like doing anything. This has also been Marine Layer Day #10. Little did I know when we moved into base housing, that the sun refuses to shine up here. No, I'm not joking :( This weather reminds me of winter in Norfolk... which is probably why I've had the urge to burn spiced candles, drink spiced teas and Christmas shop! So today I decided it was time to get out of the house, wander through Target and enjoy a hot chai latte. Isn't it wonderful how the small things in life can totally transform your day?! Now to go light some candles...

Show Us Your Life - My Wedding Dress

2009-07-27T13:21:00.009-04:00

So Kelly is starting a new series called Show Us Your Life. Last week's (which I'm just getting around to posting) tasker... to show off our wedding dress. I love getting to look back at our wedding photos and remembering how faithful and good God was to us in that brief time we were engaged...so I'm pretty excited about this week!

Justin and I got engaged on July 15th and the wedding was scheduled (before we were even engaged!) for September 2nd. This gave me exactly 7 weeks to plan the wedding! The Lord orchestrated everything and finding my wedding dress was just one example!

Seven weeks! I was told that I would never be able to find a wedding dress in that time frame. The Lord provides! We found my wedding dress at David's Bridal. I'm about 5'3" with a somewhat petite build... so finding a wedding dress that didn't look like I was playing dress up in my mom's clothes was challenging.

I saw this dress on a mannequin when we first walked in and was drawn to it but they didn't have it in my size (or at least what they thought was my size). The sales consultant literally took this dress off the mannequin for me to try on (one of the few petite dresses in the store)... and it fit like a glove! I knew this was my wedding dress!

Now it's your turn to tell us the story behind your wedding dress (or your dream wedding dress)!

A Fairytale Story...

2009-07-22T18:21:00.013-04:00

Alright friends, it's time to share the fairytale story that led to your "happily ever after". Doesn't matter if your married or engaged, we want to hear THE story! To join in first write out your story on your blog, then go to THIS link and add your name/blog link at the bottom of the post.

I moved to Norfolk December 12, 2005... a day I will never forget because I had never experienced such cold weather! I was single and happy living the single life. My career was mapped out and there was no time for relationship if I wanted to head to a Battalion next (after an IA to Iraq of course). I was actively involved in the Virginia Beach/Chesapeake branch of Officer Christian Fellowship (OCF) that met every Friday night... a group that was mostly married couples.

January 2007 a new fly boy (who was single)moved to the area and joined our OCF group. We saw him one week before he disappeared. A few weeks later he resurfaced. He seemed like a nice enough guy... but again, I had my career mapped out and I wasn't looking for love! Justin, our new fly boy, would show up to OCF in his flight suit and, as soon as the study was over, change his clothes and leave to go "chase girls" as one of the ladies in OCF put it (i.e. to meet up with the Singles from his church). This guy was clearly one of THOSE fly boys... you know... girl crazed. I wasn't interested... at first.

In March we started hanging out together. One night he invited me over for dinner... but didn't mention that he was inviting 3 other ladies over. If there was a shred of interest before that night... it quickly vanished... again he was just chasing girls. Turns out his interest was growing. Before long he was inviting just me over for dinner. His roommates were out on the carrier for work ups so it was just us in the house. Justin was very good about guarding my heart. While we were spending more and more time together, weekly we would have a conversation where we made sure we were both on the same page, that would be "the just friends" page. Then on April 17th he called me up as I drove home from work and again invited me over for dinner. As I was driving to his house I remember thinking we hadn't had one of our "conversations" in over 2 weeks but just brushed it off.

When I got to his house I was surprised to find one of his roommates back in town. So our quiet little dinner turned into a three-some :) Later that night as I was driving home my cell phone rang. It was Justin and he had a question for me... would I be interested in dating/courting him. I still remember exactly where I was on the interstate... and the tingly feeling that shot down to my toes.

And that's how our Fairytale began...

Aloha (Part 1)

2009-07-21T08:53:00.000-04:00

We've been back from our summer vacation for two week now... so I guess it's about time I catch everyone up on our travels. We had a great time in Maui! Nothing like visiting a tropical paradise for some R&R... although

our trip didn't begin without some stress.

Our trip started with a little bit of stress... kind of like God was saying, "Yes you're on vacation... but you still need ME." So what happened? We landed in Maui at 2:30pm and after spending 90 minutes in baggage claim, we decided it was time to accept that our suitcase (the one with ALL our clothes no less) hadn't made it. Sigh. Oh well. Hopefully it's just delayed in Honolulu and not on it's way to India or something. So off to Costco we go to by our groceries for the week. Groceries on the island are CRAZY expensive. Seriously, I've never seen prices like it. Costco is 50 minutes from the resorts but so much cheaper so Justin and I were tasked with picking up the week's supply of food for all six of us (did I mention this was a family vacation with my parents, aunt and uncle?). Anyway, it turns out that Costco on a Sunday night is no less crazy in Maui than it is in the States! In between the 5 calls from the family, dodging people who are (literally) trying to mow us down with their cart and an unbelievable level of noise... we get more bad news. My uncle calls to tell us there's a brush fire and the only road to the resorts is closed indefinitely. Time for a Mai Tai! Fortunately my wonderfully resourceful hubby was able to satisfy my craving quickly. Afterwards we circled back by the airport and found our suitcase had finally made it! HOORAY! You've never seen a more excited person running through baggage claim! I f

elt like I was in a movie, running to embrace my husband after a long separation... only it was the suitcase I was running to embrace! Ha ha!

Since it was Sunday and everything was closing we

figured we w

ould head towards the traffic... afterall, it had been 4 hours since the fire broke out. They have to be close to reopening the road, right? Nope. Fortunately there was a police car just a little ways up from where we were sitting so we walked up to find out the status. The answer was anything but encouraging... "well the last time this happened it burned for 12 hours

but they're hoping they get the road reopened tonight." Me too since it's only 6:30! So Justin broke out the Mexican Train Dominoes and invited the family in the car next to us to a game. We considered opening the case of beer we had just bought. If the car is turned off... it's not considered "drinking and driving" is it?

Eventually we started moving and we finally reached the resort at about 12:15am. We were exhausted since it felt like 3:15am for us... but we were thrilled to be in Maui! Fortunately this was the most adventure we had on this trip.

Most of our trip was spent reading by the pool, working out at the gym (it was a nice gym!), shopping or enjoying the ocean. Before we got married we knew that each of our "ideal" vacations was different. For Justin, vacation is hiking, exploring and staying active but for me it's longing in a tropical paradise. I always wondered how we would marry our dream vacations... and I discovered the answer in Maui. There are coral reefs off most of the beaches in Maui so Justin did a bunch of snorkeling! He was so excited to go snorkeling that he had his gear out and packed 3 days before we left! So cute :) We also went snorkeling at Molokini... a small crescent shaped island about 2 miles off the coast. If you go to Maui... skip Molokini. The reef if dying and there weren't that many fish. The snorkeling is so much better just off the coast of Maui.

Justin and I also went ziplining while in Maui! So awesome... although when we got to the first wire I had cold feet and asked him "Who's idea was this?!". His answer was classic... "Uh, YOURS!" Ha ha! That's right. I probably got this idea one night while researching Maui (with a bottle of wine next to me). Well we had a blast ziplining! There were 8 wires, most about 500-700 feet long, with one wire that was 1,100 feet! Our favorite wire was #5 where instead of steps that you walk down until the tension lifts you off your feet... there was a ramp. Yup! We had to literally take off running down a ramp (at full speed). It's one of those things that your better off not thinking about what you're about to do... boy was that fun!

Leave My Flowers Alone!

2009-07-13T12:25:00.003-04:00

The weather here in California tends to be pretty pleasant at night (in the low 50s ) so we've gotten in the habit of sleeping with our windows cracked open. This is especially helpful in keeping our bedroom cool since we don't have an air conditioner on this house. We've gotten pretty use to hearing noises during the night but last night was different. About 2am this morning I woke to the sound of someone or something on the balcony. Try as I might to ignore that someone is on our balcony... I finally hauled myself out of bed and ever so cautiously peaked through the blinds. And there they were... 2 baby raccoons who were about to attack my gerbera daisy!!!

I yanked the blinds up and started yelling and hissing at them. They turned and gave me this face... kind of like the one in the picture above. So, keep in mind that I was just waking up, for some reason I was afraid they would try to attack me through the cracked window. Yikes! I jumped back in bed and started shaking Justin saying "Wakeup! Wakeup! There are raccoons on the balcony going after my flowers!" He got up and continued yelling and hissing at them until they crawled back down to the ground. I feel like we live in the outback or somewhere far from civilization. Sight. Where's a pellet gun when you need it?!

Stand by...

2009-07-06T18:20:00.002-04:00

We're back from our cross country travels (literally... we went from Hawaii to FL). We're thankful for the opportunity to travel but also thankful to be back home. We had such a fabulous time! I promise to tell you all about our trips and show you the pictures but today I must clean because tomorrow we have friends coming to stay with us with their newborn daughter and their toddler son... and the house... well it looks like the cats have been doing as they please for the past 2 weeks. There's cat fur where there definitely shouldn't be. Little rascals!

Packing

2009-06-20T16:09:00.003-04:00

We woke up this morning with energy in our step. So much to do before the day is over! Sometime tomorrow morning (before the sun is even considering coming) we will load up in our car and leave for San Francisco...

destination...

We're soooo excited! A week in Maui followed by a week in Orlando... this is going to be a great summer vacation!

On newlyweds & strawberries

2009-06-06T21:58:00.006-04:00

Hello folks, today's post comes courtesy of Justin. Rare though as sightings of me have been on this blog, fear not- I am not an endangered species.

Two nights ago we were watching one of my absolute FAVORITE shows (just after Gilmore Girls & Housewives of OC) - ‘Here Come the Newlyweds’- a remarkably redeeming program that broadcasts in all its gory detail the joys and struggles of how two lives become one. When asked what produces the greatest amount of stress in their relationship most of the couples gave answers such as:
“the in-laws”, “finances”, or “sex”

Well last night I discovered what seems to be the biggest cause of stress in our own marriage…
…
…
…
strawberry baskets.

Money? Intimacy? Finance? We have those things down for the most part, but woe be it to the couple that can’t decide on whether to use the Costco cardboard boxes or the cloth shopping bags when picking strawberries.

Eventually, we realized how ridiculous this might have looked to our own cadre of faithful viewers and moved on…all this to say that strawberry picking at Gizdich ranch today was awesome! And today was such a beautiful day it was impossible not to be overwhelmed at the beauty of God’s creation…and we have thirteen pounds of that creation in our fridge waiting to be turned into jam…yum yum.

>Postscript- Jen asked me to point out that she absolutely does NOT watch GG or Housewives.

Empty Coffee Pot

2009-05-31T18:47:00.002-04:00

I woke up this morning with great struggling. This week I have been exhausted and having a hard time waking up before 9am... and this morning was no exception. First church service is at 9:30 and we were hoping to make that service but when Justin came upstairs to wake me at 8am, he fell asleep and we didn't wake until just after 9. "Okay, time to get up and make some coffee." Turns out Justin had already made the coffee for me. Awww. How sweet! I stumble down the stairs and to the kitchen only to find the coffee pot on but the carafe empty. Huh? Is this a joke?! Why would he joke about my morning coffee?? Half asleep I call upstairs to Justin "what happened to the coffee?" He comes down and after a few seconds of investigating we discover that he forgot to put water in the machine. I guess we both needed more sleep :)