Back in the Day

This is one of my favorite pictures from Ben and my dating days...we were on a carousel at the mall in Columbus, GA when I went to attend his Infantry Basic Training graduation at Ft. Benning. We rode it because Ben loves tigers and I loved frogs. What fun young love is! This would have been sometime in 2002--I think in February.

Hark! Late Spring!

It feels like Spring has hardly arrived, and yet the signs of Late Spring are here...check 'em out with me:

Pretty, pretty Plum Blossoms

The sweetest little Phoebe's nest you ever did see!

Lounging in the warm sun and cool breeze--ahh.

Outfits

I've been trying to get pictures of Adelynne in many of her cute little outfits...sometimes, she just doesn't want to cooperate! She's still awfully adorable anyway--poor thing!

A little golf...a little snoozing...

Nehemiah's new distraction--thanks Dad!
He's also got some new phrases...our current favorite is: Holy Mackerel!

And this is my little distraction tonight...isn't she the cutest?!

Capris!

One of many fun new things about dressing a girl!

A song

Sticks and rocks and pinecones,
Pine needles and pebbles,
Are what my little boy brings.

Dandelion tops and feathers,
All his little treasures,
Are what my little boy brings.

I was sitting on a bench nursing Adeynne, at the playground at camp this afternoon, and Nehemiah kept bringing his little discoveries over to me. I started making up a little song, which turned into the poem above. It sounds better sung (to me anyway), but I still thought I'd write it up. :)

Critters

Maltby treed something today. In a smallish deciduous tree, there is a cute, fuzzy, toothy creature. We initially thought it was a porcupine, but upon further inspection, there were no spines! Our best guess is that it is a woodchuck. I'd never seen one before, and they don't usually climb trees (unless they are trying to preserve their lives), but some quick research online by Ben and a phone call from his dad seem to indicate that this is the case. If you know something we don't, I'd love to know what you think it is!

And this little critter is cute in her own right! And growing like a weed! Yesterday at her 2 month appointment, we got her new stats: 12lbs 12oz (90th percentile), 23 in. (75th percentile), and 40cm head circumference (75th percentile)! She is just growing out of 3 month clothes and into 6 month ones, which is fun, because we had some very generous friends give us lots of hand me downs, so it's like a shopping spree of fun new outfits in her closet! When she grows out of 6 month clothes, we may actually have to go shopping though, because most of them were just through the 6 month size. I just love her little smile!

Op zoek naar Maria - Dans in het Centraal Station van Antwerpen

Oh, I smiled!!! I wish I knew more about what this was and how it came about...fun!

Mommy madness

So, I was at my Mothers and Children group yesterday gabbing with my lovely friends. It is so nice to have other moms of young kids around who can tell you that you are perfectly normal when you feel like you are losing your mind!

Part of our conversation was about the astonishing and immediate lack of freedom when you become a mom. Maybe I should say lack of spontaneous acts. There is always something to be planned for when you have a little one that you are primarily responsible for.

We all agree that we adore and appreciate our husbands (and children), but there is a difficult to express jealousy over a certain type of freedom that they still enjoy (at least part of the time). You sound crazy trying to explain it. The words are hard to find.

Well, a few months ago, I came across the words, on Sarah's Dandelions blog. Here is her post, and the article from Parenting.com that it references, as well as a another blog she came across that phrases it well.

For those of you who were wondering where those words are, you have found them!

Hugs to the Mamas!

Yippee!

Today is a momentous day for our family! My husband served in the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the Army almost 4 years ago now. He had a total of 4 years of Active Duty service, 2 of which were the first 2 years of our marriage. I am so proud of his service to his country, and glad that he was able to do it. There were struggles, but I wouldn't trade that time now. That said, today marks the end of his Inactive Reserve commitment to the Army. This means that they cannot send him a letter in the mail at any time to ask him to come back and fight. For me, 4 deployments to both theaters of war was enough. We knew it was unlikely he would ever be called back, but the possibility is still daunting; especially when our life is so different now than it was then!

These two will be especially happy to never have to go through a deployment (Lord willing)!

Rejoice with us!

Related?

Adelynne

Nehemiah

A Boy's Wanderings

Nehemiah sets out with his stick from the playhouse Daddy built.

Along his travels he comes upon an old taxidermied sawfish.

He decides the rock he picked up is dirty, and that he should lick it clean.

Note that while the rock is clean, his face is not. And he has returned to his little house and porch.

I love my BOY!

Easter pictures ala Grammy

Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics)

Whoa! I love how Susan Boyle shocked everyone who thought she was going to be another audition to mock and laugh at! She turned everybody's disbelief and cynicism into tears, awe and love.

What a reminder not to judge a book by it's cover...Hurrah!

Welcome Spring!

It seems that when we live somewhere it is permissible to wash your car, that I usher in Spring by washing our cars the old fashioned way! What better way to bask in the glory of the sun and warmth?! So awesome!

It will be so fun when the kids are old enough to partake...it is usually too cold the very first time for Nehemiah to splash around. We have well water here, and it is like ice! It isn't 70 degrees yet here, so people probably laugh to see me in my swimsuit top and shorts, but you have to soak up the sun! Even if your fingers get a little numb in the process! ;)

Happy Spring to you all!

It's the Easter Scoundrel Charlie Brown!

There are some things that you envision as a mom. Things that make great scrapbook or baby book pages, or really great first memories. And sometimes, they don't turn out quite right. Take, for instance, Nehemiah's first bath. I thought it was going to be a joyful occasion full of splashing and mirth, and it was a scream fest that had us both crying by the end. Sorta like yesterday and the first ever Easter egg hunt. Sort of, but not really.

You see, with an Easter breakfast of Belgian waffles, church, Easter dinner with Grammy and Pepa, and a necessary afternoon nap, it was shaping up to be a rather full day, and we still needed to squeeze in our hunt! When we returned home from church, Nehemiah was snoozing in the car, so Ben put the eggs out for the hunt. The plan was then to wake Nehemiah up, feed him lunch, have the hunt, and then put him down for his real nap.

It turns out that Nehemiah had no plans for waking up for lunch, so we ended up letting him take his nap instead. I went in several hours later to wake him up so he could hunt his eggs and we could get ready to go to dinner. He woke up in a foul disposition, and was only calmed when he found out we were going outside--or "side" as he calls it. I got his shoes and jacket on, and out we went for the first ever Easter egg hunt. As you recall, the eggs have now been sitting in our field for a few hours. It wasn't particularly hot out, and there wasn't anything in danger of melting, so we didn't see a problem with this until further inspection upon our arrival at the site.

23 of 24 plastic eggs had been opened and emptied. That's right, no jellybeans here! Well except in one egg. We wondered how this could have happened. Birds? Surely it couldn't be the dog? Not one of the eggs was broken, and both halves of each egg were lying next to each other all over the grounds.

Surely...it couldn't be the dog?

Or rather, surely it could be the dog, we found, as the 24th egg was then discovered by the scoundrel, who gingerly picked it up in his mouth, squished it around a couple of times, popping it open and spitting it out, only to devour the last four jelly beans of our very first ever Easter egg hunt!

Of all the low, down, dirty dog stunts to pull! What devious skulduggery!

In the end it was okay. As Nehemiah ran around discovering his matchbox cars, Ben filled a few of the popped open eggs and kept Maltby at bay so that Nehemiah had the joy of his first jellybeans and his FIRST EVER EASTER EGG HUNT! Ha!

I even got some pictures for that scrapbook page. :)

Dyeing eggs the night before Easter.

Ready to head to church


What's in here?

Jellybeans!

Yum-yum!

Heading back to the house with the loot.

Adelynne's 2nd Easter outfit of the day--on our way to dinner. This little girl is a bit of a spit-up factory, so I can always plan on multiple outfits! ;)

Too funny!

I was looking through some of our recent photos and came across this series...Adelynne's pjs say Kiss Me I'm Irish on them, and we asked Nehemiah to give her a kiss right after we all got up for the morning.

As you can see, Adelynne is a little less than impressed.

And this picture cracks me up--Ben calls it the "No Luke; I'm your sister!" shot. Which makes me laugh--if you don't get it, watch Star Wars again.

It's the beginning of a beautiful sibling relationship!

Quick pics!

The first two pictures are from Adelynne's first week of life.

The third picture is her first trip to church in her little dress almost 3 weeks ago now!

And the last was taken last week before my camera difficulties.

I can't believe my little girl will be a month old already on Tuesday--Wow!

<3,>

Coming up for air

My goodness! What a transition it is from 1 munchkin to 2! It is fun, but it has me meeting myself coming and going and feeling like I don't accomplish much other than keeping the kiddos alive and clean on a regular basis! ;)

There have been many times I wanted to sit down and blog or post pictures lately--though I'm having some minor camera issues that will take some resolving first. I am choosing to blog this because it is quick and interesting.

I saw it on the news yesterday, and it seems like a really great way to support local independent companies. I think it is structured for more metropolitan areas than where I live, but I love the concept, so I thought I'd share! It is called the 3/50 project, and the basics are that you pick your 3 favorite local companies and then spend $50 a month between them. When you spend locally--instead of at chains or big-box stores, 68% of it stays local, compared to roughly 43% of the money spent at the chains. Check out the site if you like. I think it is smart economics in times like these!

How quickly we forget...

• that a newborn's hair is absolutely the softest thing on earth--with their skin running a close second.
• the urgency and motivation contained within their cries.
• the size of their hands and feet compared to the rest of their little bodies...is it just me, or do they seem big proportionately?
• the size of their burps and toots compared to the rest of their bodies-hee hee! It is always so shocking!
  
• how tough it can be too maneuver their little limbs into clothing--or maybe how helpful my toddler is when getting dressed!
• how exhausting nursing is in the beginning--I remembered the pain that I seem to experience; I did not remember just how time consuming it is, and darn that prolactin for making you even more sleepy than you already are on top of it! ;) Along with that, it is really tough to schedule trips out of the house when things are nearly an hour away, and you must nurse on the 2-3 hour mark, 'round the clock.
  
• that you fall instantly in love at first sight, and that none of the seemingly negative stuff even really matters.
• how gratitude producing it is to watch your husband bonding with his new child.
• that we would do just about anything for this new little love.
• just how much we love baby gowns! They make diaper changes around the house 10 times easier!
• that babywearing is essential in our house!
• how behind I get (incidentally, if you are waiting for our announcements or a thank you note--it's gonna' be awhile--sorry!) on EVERYTHING except laundry, which becomes even more necessary than you think it could ever be if you want the poo and urp to come out of those adorable new clothes all your generous friends and family have given you!
• how my attitude when people send me plants shocks me. Believe it or not, I used to love to take care of houseplants. Now my attitude screams--I already have one child to keep alive, now a teensy baby too! Not to mention the dog! No more keeping things alive--I will NOT be responsible for more living things! It makes me laugh, but this really is my truth-be-told outlook on it.
• How everyone has something to say, and how sweet almost all of it is!
  

Anyone else have things to add to the list? I'd love to hear more!