Happy Birthday to My Sweet Boy!

So, today was quite a big day in our household! Not only was it Veteran's Day which is a special day to us for obvious reasons, but also because today was Munchkin's second birthday!

I decided after the fact that I should have put the sprinkles on before the wording, ha ha.

It's scary how fast time flies. Anyhow, I didn't get a chance to do a "Birthday Week" series of posts like I tried to do last year, but I did want to make sure that I did a month-by-month pictorial progression again, so here it is (for the record, it is technically still Munchkin's birthday here in Hawaii, so I'm not entirely late, ha ha). Enjoy!

December 2010: 13 months old.

January 2011: 14 months old. 

This was the beginning of his climbing on anything and everything. 

February 2011: 15 months old.

March 2011: 16 months old.

Boy, is it hard to try to get a correct White Balance when there is something red in the picture!!!

April 2011: 17 months old.

There was a helicopter flying over and he was squinting in preparation to look up at it. :)

May 2011: 18 months old.

Munchkin LOVES goats. He always has a blast when we go to the "Keiki Zoo" at the Honolulu Zoo and he gets to go in with the goats. He's really going to be excited when we get to Virginia and he sees my old goat. :)

June 2011: 19 months old.

When he had his stitches in--poor Baby. :(

July 2011: 20 months old.

Oh, how he loves to be outside!!

August 2011: 21 months old.

And he REALLY loves his smoothies! :)

September 2011: 22 months old.

Playing in the pool with Daddy. :)

October 2011: 23 months old.

Okay, so I admit it, this is a picture from my cell phone (hence the graininess). A while back the Munchkin somehow decided it was more fun to be BEHIND the camera instead of in front of it, and would wiggle his way between me and the camera (putting the strap around HIS neck too). So, it made taking pictures with the REAL camera rather difficult and I kind of gave up on it for a while (which I'm ashamed to admit). 

November 2011: 2 years old. :)

I'll try to write an update post soon about what today actually held for Munchkin. Hope you enjoyed the pictures, as always it was fun for myself to go back and see his progression over the last year...brought back a lot of memories! Goodnight for now!

Letter to Munchkin

I meant to post this earlier, but didn't get a chance to until now....

Dearest Munchkin,

It is so hard to believe that you are turning two already! You’ve grown and changed so much over the last year--from just beginning to be confident with walking alone to running, jumping, and climbing on/over everything (including your baby gate a couple of days ago--which you are now a pro at doing--even after I raised it a couple of inches off the ground).

Just a couple of weeks ago you started having a ‘vocabulary explosion’ of sorts, and since then you’ve made leaps and bounds in your verbal skills. While you still have a long way to go before you get there, I can’t wait for the day that you say “I love you, Mommy” back to me. For now though, we are trying to convince you that “bus” is really not pronounced “butt”. :)

This past year has held many firsts for you: your first set of stitches (and hopefully it will be the only one for a very long time!), your first night in a toddler bed, your first time in a pool (it was a kiddie pool, but you LOVE it--especially the sprinkler that it has built into it :), your first cookie, and soon your first bite of cake.

You’ve become a very independent (in situations that you are comfortable in anyhow, you still prefer to observe new things from familiar arms) and strong-willed little fella, but to be honest we were kind of expecting that. Most of the time when we say “No.” it becomes some sort of a challenge or a game to you and you just grin and do what we’ve said not to do. I have to admit, that has been really frustrating at times. However, I know eventually you will be able to comprehend the reasons behind our instructions (and that we aren’t trying to prevent you from having ‘fun’, but are instead trying to protect you and keep you safe). Until then though, I have to constantly stay on top of you otherwise the next thing I know you’ll have gone into the laundry room and brought the broom back out and started “sweeping” the floors or something else mischievous or unsafe.

You are such a goofball! You love to take pictures with my phone of yourself making goofy faces. Oh, and speaking of phones, over the last month and a half or so you have been making ridiculously cute make-believe phone calls on your cell phone. I love it when you pretend to have a conversation with someone and will pause as though listening to a reply before you carry on and then eventually end with a quick “Bye!” and close your phone.

I can’t wait to see what this next year will bring (though I’m fervently hoping your Terrible Two’s stage won’t be too bad or last too long--especially since you’ve already been showing some signs of it for the last couple of months already!!), and I’m excited to see you change and grow. Maybe sometime soon I will hear: “I love you, Mommy.”

I love you my Little One--forever and always!

Love,
Mommy

Frustration. . . .

Okay, please forgive me everyone, but I need to vent for a minute. . . .  Recently my husband and I tried to get some things resolved with someone, but instead of taking responsibility for their actions the other party simply denied them or passed the buck. Supposedly the issues are now "resolved," but I don't feel that way at all. Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't help but feel like if someone doesn't realize what they did and refuses to accept responsibility for their actions and then actually apologize for the hurt they caused, then the issue isn't really resolved (anyone else feel like this? Am I the only one?). I've been told by someone else that I need to be "the bigger person" and realize why the other person is seemingly incapable of taking responsibility for their actions and simply forgive them, but not allow them to run me over again if they do try that in the future (and I know that is good advice). It's just that I am struggling with it because I feel like if they don't realize what they did, they're just going to do it again regardless (because it apparently never happened in the first place . . . yeah right). Maybe I should simply 'turn the other cheek', but this person made my life miserable for a long time so I'm having a hard time. I guess that's just the human side of me wanting 'justice' and resolution.

I am NOT a person who enjoys drama and was sincerely hoping that everything would be resolved and that we could all move forward, but now I feel severely disappointed, stuck, and like I was run over all the more by this person's refusal to accept responsibility. Anyhow, please pray for me friends, I really need it right now! Pray for God to help me accept that I can't change people and to be more forgiving in that light. I'm so stressed right now. : (

 

We Found a House!

Yep, as the title suggests we found a place to call home for the duration of my hubby's deployment (though it's hard to fathom it really feeling like 'home' without his presence!). It's a cute little house in a beautiful setting, set back from the road and relatively private. My mom was awesome and did all of the running around checking out the various houses we have been looking into, taking pictures, and then promptly e-mailing us the pictures with descriptions and thoughts (thanks Mom! :).


We submitted applications for two different places, but one of the places--though it had a nicer house that was somewhat more convenient in a lot of ways--we had some concerns about, so we prayed that God would close the door on their end if it wasn't the place for us. To make a long story short, the door was closed. We were accepted for the second house and sent in the security deposit today.


As I'm sure you can imagine, not having to worry about finding a place to live now is a HUGE stress reliever!! Though the house isn't perfect and I'm going to have a LOT of baby-proofing to do, I am very grateful to not have to worry about finding a place to live anymore (especially one that fit all of our specifications!). So, without further ado, here are a couple of the pictures my mom sent....

 

Off to the right is the horse pasture....

 Just another view of the front....

So there you have it! Our future home. 

Oh, please be praying for the truck to sell quickly! The guy that was going to buy it last weekend backed out, but there is another guy who wants to take a look at it tomorrow, so we are praying that will go well. As much as we hate to see it go, we do need it to sell so we can have the money we need for the move. 

I will try my best to keep updating more often as we prepare for the move and deployment...I know things are bound to become pretty hectic and stressful at times around here, but I will *try* to post more often. I do miss blogging!

Life Update

Hello everyone! Hello . . . anyone? Hellllllooooo? Anyone still here reading this thing? I wouldn't blame you if you're not (though I guess if you just read that, then you haven't given up on me quite yet--YAY!). :-)

Well, for those of you who are in fact still reading this, I shall attempt to give you as much of an update as I can before something catastrophic happens and I can't write anymore, ha ha.

My hubby came home the first week of September (WOO-HOO!), and it has been SO wonderful having him home again (of course :-). Munchkin still gets worried though when Hubby has to leave for work and he gets clingy to his daddy as soon as he realizes that Daddy is about to leave. I try not to dwell on it much, but seeing him react that way makes this upcoming deployment even more difficult. . .it's not like I can effectively explain to him at such a tender age why his daddy has to leave and when he will be back. I think that breaks my heart more than the thought of being apart from my Hubby myself--at least I understand where he is going, why, and for how long--and therefore have the ability to come to terms with it--Munchkin doesn't have that luxury at this point in his life. :-(

Anyhow, before I go getting all sad at the thought of my sweet Munchkin's utter confusion at the disappearance of his daddy, I guess I'd better change the topic to something else (albeit still deployment related--as is most everything in our lives right now!).

We are still searching for a place to live in Virginia. We have a couple of prospective places, and are supposed to hear back on one of them this weekend, so we shall see. We are trusting God to open/close doors as He sees fit, though I am really hoping He will open doors sooner rather than later! Not as I will Father, but as you will. I have to constantly remind myself of that.

I am slowly starting to put things in boxes to be put in storage here while the Munchkin and I are in Virginia . . . it's slow going with a Munchkin who rarely naps these days (unless we are out driving during naptime--and sometimes even then he won't nap) and would get into everything I'm in the process of trying to box up if I let him. So I think I've gotten a grand total of 4 boxes packed in about 3 weeks time. Yay me. :-p I'm on a roll y'all! Okay, so maybe I'm not quite going at the pace I should be yet, but I intend to get there . . . I just don't know when. :-p Thankfully, after we first moved here I insisted that we start organizing and categorizing our random "stuff" so quite a bit of that is already boxed up in plastic tubs, so at least I don't have to worry about all of that.

Oh, we are selling our truck. A guy from another island is buying it tomorrow morning . . . to tell the truth, I'm glad he lives on another island--if I had to see someone else driving our truck around I would be so sad. I know it's just a worldly possession, but we are still very sad to see it go. We knew it was going to have to happen before we left the island since we will need to get another bigger truck at our next duty station (one that is actually able to haul the weight of a horse trailer with horses in it without straining), and though we did contemplate keeping this one as my primary means of transportation, it just isn't practical as a Baby-Mobile. Plus, now the Army has suddenly announced that they aren't going to pay to store anyone's vehicles like normal during the deployment, so it's not like we had much leeway to change our minds anyway in the end. I'm going to miss it. I didn't realize last Sunday would be the last time I would get to ride in it until this afternoon. *sniff*

One last thing, please, please, PLEASE join with us in praying for a homeless friend of ours--we don't know much about him yet--just that he has fallen on hard times somehow (doesn't matter how), but we think he might be a Brother in Christ and he could really use your prayers. So, please, won't you take a minute of your time and remember to pray for Raymond and his dog, Coby. I know he would appreciate it--more than you might ever know. If we are able to track him down this weekend we are going to give him a weatherproof Bible, so please pray that God would use us to minister to him. THANK YOU.

 

What You SHOULD Say (A Follow Up on Yesterday's Post)

After posting to my blog yesterday and including the link to the list of "Things Not to Say to the Spouse of a Deployed Soldier" (see previous post), I came across another article that will probably be just as informative. It is the opposite of the first and is called: "Things You Should Say During Deployment" 



For me personally, most of these probably wouldn't apply on a day to day basis as I am not an 'I-need-to-get-out-there-and-socialize-all-the-time' kind of person to begin with. For example: my husband has been gone for nearly a month and I've only driven somewhere twice since then. Once to pick up a package--and thereby prevent it's being stolen--at the house of a friend who is home with her family while our husbands are away at training, and to the grocery store the other time. So, as you can tell, I don't get out much. Ha ha! I don't expect that will be the case to the same extent in VA because I know my way around that area a lot more and am more comfortable driving there than I am here. But I digress, back to the original topic. . . . However, it is likely applicable to most military spouses, and may on occasion apply to me as well--though we'll have to wait and see, ha ha.

Anyhow, I thought it might be something worth reading for all of my non-military friends who haven't ever been around any military spouses while their husbands are gone.

Cheers!

Of Training and Deployment

So, here I am--again. It's been a month since I posted anything, and I don't really have a very good excuse as to why I haven't. Here goes. . . .

The Hubby left for more away training back at the end of July, so the Munchkin and I have been holding down the fort since then. Thankfully it is nearly over with and my husband will be home soon! I will be SO happy to have him home again! This past month has dragged by--despite my efforts to stay busy and get some things done around the house.

This separation has made the upcoming deployment so much more real . . . up until he left I was able to kind of 'keep the deployment at bay' so-to-speak. I could convince myself that it was still pretty far off and that I didn't need to worry about it yet--never mind that the days, weeks, and months have been flying by since just before we hit the 'scheduled-to-deploy-in-a-year' mark. However, the fact that that he's already been gone for nearly a month for training with a bit left to go yet, and that by the time he returns we will only have a few short months together before he leaves us for a year (more on this in a minute) has really been starting to sink in while he's been away. It's made for some moments of sadness here and there . . . but I just keep reminding myself that "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24) I don't want our last few months together to be filled with apprehension, tension, and stress. I'd rather that they be filled with fun times together and lots of good memories made.

Some of you who have heard about the Army cutting 3 months off of the standard year long deployment time may be wondering why my husband is still going over there for a year. Well, unfortunately, the 9-month deployment doesn't count for his brigade at this point due to many reasons (one of the biggest is probably due to the fact that they are an Aviation brigade--though I don't know that for sure, so please don't quote me on that!--they ARE trying to find a way to make it a 9-month deployment, but they don't sound very hopeful that it will happen before they leave. . . . That's not going to stop me from hoping that a miracle will happen though! We'll just have to wait and see). I truly am thrilled for the soldiers and their families who do get to cut 3 months off of their deployments though! I can't resent anyone else getting to have their husband/wife back earlier just cause mine has to stay longer.

While we are on the topic of the upcoming deployment though . . . as many of you know, the munchkin and I will be moving back to Virginia (to those of you who know where in VA--please do not post anything specific if you decide to comment on this or any future posts! Thanks!) for the duration of the deployment. Initially my husband and I were fully intending on my staying here, but more and more things kept pointing toward my moving back to Virginia, so after a lot of prayer and consideration, we decided that it would be better for me to move back for a year instead of stay here for that time. And, no, I'm not "running home to Mommy" as has been hinted at by someone I know. One of the biggest reasons I'm moving home instead of staying here is to give my husband peace of mind (and no, it's not cause he doesn't think I can take care of myself, ha ha) . . . there have been a lot of 'signs of the times' lately and in the event that some awful natural disaster affects Hawaii or if something horrific happens worldwide my husband feels much better knowing that for one thing, that I won't be completely isolated from friends and family--and also that I will be armed, because in VA I fully intend on getting another concealed carry license. There are other reasons as well, such as: why stay here surrounded by suburbs and city when I can move back the middle-of-nowhere where I'll feel like I have room to breathe again and not constantly be hearing traffic and sirens? Why stay here alone--considering the fact that all of the women that I consider to be my friends here are either PCSing or are also moving home for the deployment? Plus, why wouldn't I want to move away from the tropics to somewhere where the munchkin and I will actually get to enjoy snow?! Woo-hoo! :-p That wasn't facetious, by the way, I really am looking forward to being back in a place where it snows (if only it were under different circumstances! :-( ). So, there you have it: the abbreviated list of why I am moving back to VA.

I'm not going to lie and say that I don't have any apprehensions about moving away from here though. Because I do . . . you see, when you live in a military community EVERYONE knows what you are going through and that can be an amazing support system. People know what topics are sensitive ones and what NOT to ask. It's kind of funny, military spouses have compiled lists of things that they wish their non-military family and friends wouldn't say or ask during a deployment. I'll have to see if I can find it and post it, because it's SO true (if you are a military spouse reading this, I'm sure you know what I am talking about! :-) So, yeah, the thought of being surrounded by a civilian community that doesn't have a clue what I am going through scares me to death. To any of my civilian friends reading this--I love you guys--please don't take offense to this, I'm not trying to offend anyone! I'm just being real here--I'm nervous about not having the support of other military wives going through the same thing as myself. Thankfully though, one of my good friends from here will also be moving home to VA, she'll be a few hours away, but at least I'll be able to see her every now and then--and we'll be in the same time zone, ha ha!

Well, I couldn't find the exact list that I was looking for, but this one covered the biggest ones:  Top Things Not to Say to the Spouse of a Deployed Soldier . Hopefully reading it will be somewhat helpful to anyone who hasn't experienced a deployment firsthand themselves.

Well, that's about it for now. I'll try to post some pictures in the *near* future, ha ha. If any of this post seemed kind of disjointed or random . . . I kind of didn't go back and proof read it to make sure that I finished my trains of thought. Hopefully it won't be too scrambled!

Not a Monday, but Still Miscellaneous!

So, I just realized that I haven't met my original goal of getting back into posting at least once a week, because it has already been a month since I posted last! Where does the time go? o.O


Anyhow...I'm way past due for posting an update! So much has happened this past month--and I really meant to blog about the events as they were happening, because I didn't want to forget any of them (which I'm quite certain that I have indeed forgotten something that I wanted to blog about). As you can tell though--it didn't happen!


Now to at least *try* to get caught up. Where to begin? .... Ah, I know: my sister. :-)

First some background; for years my sister has felt a calling to be a missionary--and more specifically--to go to India and use her life for God's glory working with the orphans and widows of India. So, last year after being disappointed by a door being closed at the last minute for her to go to Honduras for 6 months and assist a missionary couple who were already there, my sister was networking with native Indian missionaries to try to make some contacts and see if any doors would open. She began communicating with a man named Byju who runs an orphanage in Northern India. As they talked they began to realize that they had many of the same dreams and goals for what they felt like God was calling them to do with their lives. Byju asked my sister if she would think about marrying him, and after a while they began a courtship and--to make a long story short--earlier this month my sister traveled to India (along with our mom) to meet and marry her Byju. :-) They were married on July 10th and judging from the brief phone calls and Facebook statuses, my sister is blissfully happy and completely adores her new husband (but that's nothing new is it Sis? :-p). ;-)

 My beautiful sister and her dashing new husband on their wedding day!

If you ever read this Sis--congratulations again! We are so happy for you and Byju and can't wait to meet him (hopefully sooner rather than later)! Love you bunches! :-)

Well, in other news, Peanut Butter Cup has been cutting his canines (so far the lower left and upper right ones have broken through, but the other two are still below the surface) which that has been making him cranky, and is likely also responsible for his somewhat diminished appetite as well. We have been working on potty training (very slowly) since May, and have had some progress but still have a LONG way to go.... A very long way to go. o.O

My horse, Titan, is *possibly* going to be broken soon! I am SO excited about that, but am so sad to be missing all of his training. I'm hoping to find out an approximate date of when it is going to happen--before it happens (even if it gets changed and has to be delayed for any reason)--so that I can share in the excitement and anticipation of waiting for an e-mail or something to hear how it went. Silly, I know, but I feel like I'm missing so much with him and it would be so awesome to be able to feel more a part of such a big event in his life! Phooey--I miss my pony!!

My handsome boy! (Thanks to Karissa, one of my best and dearest friends, for taking this photo and sharing it with me! You're awesome!!!)

Well, I guess I should try to get some other stuff done before Peanut Butter Cup wakes up for the day. :-) I really will try to write again soon--and post more pictures! I'm so far behind....

Pictures of Munchkin's Stitches and Some More Experimenting with Photoshop

 

 Please forgive the mess in the playroom.... I probably should have cropped most of it out, but in the end I didn't (obviously, ha ha!). :-p

 Playing soccer with Daddy in the field near our house.

 Taking a break and inspecting a piece of grass.

"I think there is something here."

I'm Back!

Whew!! Long time, no write!! At first I didn't mean to be away from the blogosphere for so long, but then I decided to take a bit of a sabbatical.... Only I never actually got around to posting and letting y'all know that! I'm not even sure if anyone even checks my blog for new posts anymore. Sorry about that everyone!

Life picked up for a while, and I just didn't have the time or energy to write anything. I did THINK about things I wanted to write about, they just never made it to the computer. :-p I actually started writing this post back in May, and it's taken me this long to get a chance to finish it!

Anyhow, here's a quick update for anyone who may still be reading this blog -- or randomly stumbles across it, ha ha. Peanut Butter Cup turned 18 months old in May, and less than a week later he decided that it was high time for him to be climbing out of his crib, so as soon as his daddy got home from some away training a couple of days later Peanut Butter Cup's crib was made into a toddler bed. It was an interesting adjustment to say the least, but it didn't really change his sleeping habits much aside from the very first night when I had a nightlight on so he would be able to see if he woke up in the night and got out of bed--the light was too stimulating for him and we ended up having a five hour party-time instead of his normal 1-3 hours. Needless to say, we were both exhausted the next day, and he actually slept for about 11 1/2 hours straight the next night (a rarity to be sure!), for which I was VERY grateful.

Now things are pretty much back to normal and he actually sleeps through the night on occasion--sometimes several nights in a row which is SO wonderful! I can't wait until he sleeps through the night every night.... It will make planning out my days and nights a little bit more predictable than they are currently. :-)

Peanut Butter Cup is in the process of cutting his four cuspids and then all that will be left are the very back molars. Teething is another thing that I can't wait to be done with. It will be a huge relief to know that he isn't hurting from cutting teeth anymore!!

June 4th was quite an eventful day--not only was it my husband's birthday, but it was also the day Peanut Butter Cup got his first set of stitches (not something I'd care to repeat for a VERY long time). So, how did it happen? Well, we were Skyping with my husband's parents in the play room while Peanut Butter Cup ran around playing like he always does, only this time he tripped and hit his forehead square on a toy (one that was supposed to be safe because it had rounded edges...he just happened to find the one sharp joint underneath the rounded edge). Because it was a head wound it instantly started bleeding quite a bit which of course shook me up because he's my baby and I can't stand the thought of him getting hurt like that. My husband took charge of the situation and told me to get tissues and put pressure on it. Peanut Butter Cup was thrashing around quite a bit though and I was scared I was going to hurt him more so my husband took over that and told me to get ready to leave so we could go to the emergency room. I think we were out of the door and on our way within about 7 minutes of it happening. I sat in the back with Munchkin on the way there and tried to distract him and keep him calm while I tried to clean most of the blood off of him. He had stopped screaming by then, but started crying a few times during the short drive, fortunately though he was pretty easy to distract so that kept him from crying the whole way there.

By the time we had gotten to the clinic (my husband had decided on the way that he probably didn't need to go to the E.R.) and had signed in, Peanut Butter Cup was pretty much back to his normal self--wanting to run around and be chased, all the while giggling--which was a huge relief to me (and my heart--which I think had stopped momentarily when he fell and I saw all of the blood).

He ended up having to get three stitches, and let me tell you--he was SO brave. He didn't whine or fuss when the nurses swaddled him, or had to clean it out--or even when they had to numb the area, which was the point at which they said things usually started to "get interesting". I think he would have been fine during the whole stitching process as well, but they insisted on covering his face up with a cloth--which is something that he absolutely hates. He was very upset by that and by the time the nurses had finished stitching him up he had exhausted himself, was beet red, and had soaked the sheet under his head in sweat and tears. I felt so bad that he had to go through that and was very relieved when they had finished and would finally take the cover off of his face.

His stitches are out now and it has been healing very nicely. Now, hopefully God and Peanut Butter Cup will both have mercy on me and there won't be any more injuries for a loooooooooooonnng time.

I'll post pictures soon!

I've missed blogging...hopefully I'll be able to get back into posting at least once a week here in the near future!

What Gets You Through?

I was talking to my Mom the other day and we began discussing how different people react to hard times and tragedy. Our conversation got me thinking about the ways God has ministered to me in times of difficulty, specifically through music.

I stand in awe of the God who works through the words of a songwriter to give me the exact encouragement I need when I need it -- or to put into words what my heart wants to say, but doesn't know how.

A couple of years ago, when DH was deployed last and I was going through a bit of a rough time for various reasons God really used the song Praise You in This Storm by Casting Crowns to remind me that He is always there -- even when it feels like He is far away.

For the past four or five months, No Matter What by Kerrie Roberts has never ceased to remind me that God is faithful, and even when I don't understand why I am having to go through a certain situation, God knows what I am feeling and understands the pain. It is such a beautiful -- if not bittersweet -- reminder of God's trustworthiness and faithfulness. It is the cry of a broken, confused heart reaching out to a loving, merciful God -- acknowledging it's need, deep love for, and dependency on God no matter what.

Anyhow, I was just wondering: when something goes wrong or when you feel like your world is falling apart, what gets you through?

In awe of His faithfulness,

Miscellany Monday

One: This is my first Miscellany Monday, and first blog hop ever! Pretty exciting stuff! :-) I've been meaning to do this for forever.

Two: I started following the Curly Girl method of hair care as of Saturday night! No more shampoo or hair brushes for me! For those of you who haven't heard of it and are naturally curly, wavy, of have always wondered why your hair is what I call "foofy" (a mix of poofy and frizzy) and wouldn't lay as nice and flat as 'all the other girls' hair', I would recommend checking out YLCF's 'Got Curl?' page to learn more about the Curly Girl method. I'd never heard about it until I clicked on the Got Curl? link one day after thinking, "Hey, I'm part of the curly 'club' now!" After reading through the links and then getting a copy of the Curly Girl book for myself, I decided to give it a shot and see what happens. From what I've read, CG doesn't work perfectly for everyone, and I may have some discouraging 'bad hair' days in the process, as my hair has to get used to not being stripped daily by the sulfates in most shampoos, but we will see in six weeks what kind of an impact my new routine has had on my hair. I'm hoping it will be quite a bit less foofy. I'll keep everyone posted, and will try to post pictures along the way! If you decide to give it a try, please let me know!

Three: Peanut Butter Cup experienced the wonderful world of crayons for the first time yesterday! Boy, was he excited about coloring! Obviously he doesn't quite have the concept and coordination down yet, but he make some scribbles. :-) He only tried to put a crayon in his mouth once (that I saw), but I'm sure the more he plays with them the more often that will happen -- for a while at least. It was exciting to see how his eyes lit up when I first gave one to him and showed him how to draw on the paper. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to leave him alone with the paper and the crayons (since I already know he likes to eat paper, ha ha). Hopefully next time!

Four: I pulled my fiddle out of it's case and played it for the first time in about a year a couple of weeks ago! It felt good! I've missed playing it . . . I just wish I had more time -- and could find all of my sheet music, as currently I'm only able to play whatever I can remember. I think I know the general area where my sheet music is hiding, but haven't had a chance to go digging for it as the only time I have really is after Peanut Butter Cup goes to sleep for his naps or bedtime, and searching for it would make too much noise.

Five: DH should be done with his progression as of tonight -- as long as the weather holds! Basically what that means is that instead of always having to fly with an instructor pilot (IP) he will be able to fly with any (progressed) pilot. That is pretty exciting for him! So, we are hoping and praying that the weather will clear so he will be able to fly tonight (he's been flying nights lately) and be DONE. It will take a LOT of extra stress of of DH to be finished with progression . . . Lord willing it won't be dragged out for another week.

I hope everyone has had a good start to their week! :-)

P.S. I'm such a Ditz!! I went to link up at Lowercase Letters and titled my post as "Miscellany Monday" instead of the title of my blog! :-p HA HA!! I was wondering how everyone else's links were the title of their blog -- I just read "Post Title" and took it literally! Well, at least I know now! :-)

Nap Times and Party Times

Peanut Butter Cup has been taking his naps in his crib for over a week now, and it has been going really well . . . at least is was until yesterday when he decided that he wasn't going to take a nap after falling asleep in my arms a couple of times and then waking up when I put him down. He's doing the same thing today (though I'm going to try to convince him to go to sleep again in a little while) -- and he's done it off and on in the past. I'm just hoping that he isn't at the stage where he has decided to not nap AT ALL anymore (kind of like when he decided he didn't want to take two naps a day anymore). In a way it wouldn't surprise me. I've read that the older High Needs (Fussy) Babies/Children get, the less sleep they seem to need -- they just have SO MUCH energy.

Nevertheless, I am hoping that this is just a stage that he is going through due to discomfort from teething and another bout of separation anxiety. I'm not ready for him to be done with nap times!! He hasn't been sleeping very well at night again as well, and I am usually up with him for what I call "Party Time" -- due to the fact that most of the time he is wide awake and simply wants to sit/stand up, squirm, and chatter away in my arms -- though sometimes he will fall back to sleep quickly, he just doesn't stay asleep when I put him back down and so then we have to start all over again. He usually has one Party Time each night lasting anywhere from as little as 40 minutes to 3 hours (like last night's!).

He started doing that months ago, but stopped a while back and was actually starting to sleep through the night off and on (which was lovely!). As of almost two weeks ago though, everything changed. He started being fussier/more clingy, drooling like a fountain, eating less, sleeping more fitfully, and having Party Times during the night again, of course. All of those things point to teething, but so far no new tooth has broken through. So, in the meantime, Peanut Butter Cup and I get what sleep we can, and I try to stay awake during the night while he is bouncing off the walls -- in my arms. Hey, it's hard to stay awake when sitting in the dark in the middle of the night with the same song playing on repeat the entire time. Ha ha! :-p

I'm very grateful that he hasn't been in such extreme discomfort during the night that he will cry inconsolably like some teething babies. He is actually quite a chipper little Munchkin and will try to give me hugs and kisses in the dark. :-) He's such a Sweetheart and such a little Trooper -- even when he is sick he is still such a cheerful little guy! Oh how I adore him!

Even though I would really like to get more sleep most nights, I know I will NEVER look back on these times and wish that I hadn't held Peanut Butter Cup as much or spent these nights 'sleep training' him so that I could get more sleep and he would be more convenient. This is just a season that will pass in time (whether it be a short amount of time, or whether it takes a longer amount of time).

Now, I'm not trying to paint a picture of myself bouncing joyfully out of bed when he wakes up in the middle of the night -- because more often than not it takes me a couple of minutes to groggily pull myself together before I head into his room and then oftentimes I will petition Abba (Father) that my little Peanut Butter Cup will go back to sleep quickly. However, I can't help but to constantly remind myself that there are childless women who would gladly take my place during these nights of sleep deprivation because it would mean that they have been blessed with a child -- and when I think of things like that I think of how I should be just as grateful for the blessing that I have been given -- and not take him for granted just because I am uncomfortable in some way. I was going to say more, but I've lost my train of thought -- must be due to the lack of sleep! Ha ha!! :-)

Eventually he will sleep through the night (of his own accord) and will no longer need me in the middle of the night to help him back to sleep, so I treasure these moments of time spent with him in the middle of the night, and I won't begrudge him the comfort/closeness he needs during the night in this season.

I am truly a blessed Mama!

P.S. As I was writing the above, Peanut Butter Cup was 'bouncing around' in his crib expending some energy (if we leave the nursery during the time when he is supposed to be taking his nap, it's almost a 100% guarantee that he won't ever get back to the point of falling asleep during the day -- without the help of going for a drive anyhow. So we have to stay in there in the dim light so he'll eventually get tired again) . . . he started to get more and more subdued and then the next thing I knew he was laying down and starting to fall asleep -- ON HIS OWN. He is now slumbering peacefully, and he did it all himself this time. So, you see what I mean about his needing my help to go to sleep only being a season? Who knows how much longer it will last. He's already growing up.

Ladies: treasure your babies in all aspects no matter what stage they are going through . . . they won't stay babies for long and will quickly become independent. Don't take their current need for you for granted!!

Okay, I'll get off my soap box now!! Hope you are all having a blessed day! :-)

New Accomplishments!

So, like most babies his age, Peanut Butter Cup has been changing and growing by leaps and bounds (not so much physically, as mentally, but he has gotten bigger!). Yesterday for instance he did an AMAZING job of feeding himself with a fork!

Want to know what the funniest part of the whole thing was?

We were eating fish, green beans, and rice, and every time he would get a green bean or some rice on his fork he would pause for a second, shake his head 'no', and then continue to move the fork toward his mouth. Then when he was about ready to put it in his mouth he would stop and shake his head again, then he would wiggle his fork so it would fall off and he wouldn't have to eat it! We thought it was hilarious watching him 'argue' with himself -- it was like he was telling himself, "Eat it!" "No, I don't want to!" "I really should eat it!" "NO! Yucky!". :-)

He didn't have a problem with the fish at all, so I guess he's going to be a 'meatatarian' like his daddy!

Yesterday was also the first day that he has taken a nap in his crib. He usually takes his nap in his swing, but eventually he is going to outgrow it, and he has been waking up more lately when I first put him down in it, so I decided to see how he would do with napping in his crib. Today has been better than yesterday so far. Yesterday he only slept for about 50 minutes because a truck with a high-pitched hum of sorts was sitting somewhere on the road in front of our house for a while and it woke him up. So far today he's been asleep for about an hour and 20 minutes. So, we may be done with the swing! That would be nice as it would open up a good chunk of the nursery if we could put it away. Don't get me wrong though, I have been VERY grateful for the swing! Sometimes (especially when Peanut Butter Cup was a newborn) that has been the ONLY way he will go to/or stay (a)sleep.

My husband (whom I will be referring to as DH from now on, unless I think of something more appropriate! Ha ha!), taught Peanut Butter Cup how to say 'Hi/Hey" on Monday! He doesn't do it very often, but he's always so cute when he says it -- he'll say it with a big grin on and then he'll get all shy and bury his face for a few seconds into the shoulder of whichever one of us is holding him. :-)

Last weekend it sounded like he tried to say "buddy" a few times over the span of a couple of days, but we aren't sure if he really did or if it was our imaginations. So, now I don't know whether to consider "bubble" (which he only said once, several months ago), "buddy", or "hi/hey" to be his third word. :-p

Oh yeah! Peanut Butter Cup had his 12 month well baby appointment back on December 23rd (yeah, I know that was more than a month AFTER he turned one, ha ha). The doctor didn't tell us where he stood in the 'percentiles', just that he was on the lower end, but she wasn't concerned because she could tell he just takes after his parents. :-) Thank the Lord! I was worried she would be one of those doctors who wouldn't take that into consideration and would tell us that we needed to start supplementing him or something. Anyhow, he weighed 18 pounds 2 ounces (if I remember correctly -- it may have been 18.2 pounds instead), and they measured him at 29 inches long, but the nurse that did that kind of went down underneath his head instead of making a mark even with the top of his head, so he is actually a bit taller.

The doctor was also pleased that I am still breastfeeding him, which made me like her even more. I think maybe the fact that she was German had something to do with her being so laid back about that. . .after all, the minimum recommended breastfeeding age in Europe is two years old, unlike the American recommendation of only a year.

Peanut Butter Cup also got some cream for his ringworm spots that he's had since early December (we aren't sure if he got them from Copper -- who didn't have any sign of them -- or if he got them from the sand at the beach. His original spots are clearing up now, but a few more smaller ones have popped up, so we have been putting cream on them as well. If they don't go away soon I may end up having to take him back in to see what the doctor has to say again.

I'm Alive Still . . . No Worries! :-)

Whew, I have been SO awful about updating the blog lately -- as I'm sure y'all have noticed! SORRY!!

What with Peanut Butter Cup being so mobile now along with my trying to get settled back into some sort of a routine after my hubby returned to work, I haven't had much extra time or energy to sit down and write an update . . . plus everytime I would contemplate doing so, I would quickly become overwhelmed at all of the things that have happened since my last update that I've been wanting to write about. So, I guess in the interest of maintaining my sanity, and not boring you to death with an extraordinarily long post, I will either just skip a few things altogether, or break them up into individual posts (as I have time). I haven't entirely decided which I will do yet, but extra time seems to be one thing I've been lacking lately, so it is somewhat probable that I may skip over a few things.

*Side note* Please pray for all of us as we seem to be coming down with some sort of a cold/flu. Peanut Butter Cup started showing some symptoms the night before last, then last night I started to get it, and now my hubby is getting it as well! :-(

Okay, back to the post!

As those of your who are friends with me on Facebook may already know (due to the pictures my husband posted), we have a new family member: her name is Abby, she just turned a year old on January 1st and weighs about 140 pounds.

We came across an ad for her back in December, went and visited her a couple of times, thought and prayed hard about her, weighed the options carefully, and in the end we decided to bring her home. Peanut Butter Cup adores her (though that may not come as a huge surprise since he loves dogs in general) and he loves to give her hugs. She is so sweet, gentle, and calm . . . she usually just lays there while Peanut Butter Cup tries to give her a hug while laying/leaning on her (don't worry I keep an eye on them to make sure Abby hasn't accidentally sat on Peanut Butter Cup!). The other day Abby was laying near the front door while Peanut Butter Cup and I were in the kitchen/living room area . . . Peanut Butter Cup disappeared down the hallway and it suddenly became very quiet and still, so I peeked around the corner to see what they were doing. Peanut Butter Cup was sitting on Abby's back, just behind her shoulders, facing her rear, and Abby was just laying there! Ha ha ha! A few seconds later Peanut Butter Cup lost his balance and slid off, and I went down the hall to get him so he wouldn't do that again (we don't want him to hurt Abby's back -- she's already likely to have some other health issues down the road without adding that one to it, but that's another post in and of itself!). He looked so proud of himself! :-)

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On another subject, my hubby has started playing around with Photoshop (the above picture of Abby being one of his edits), and in my opinion he is pretty good (he's a lot braver than I have been with experimenting with all the different actions and tools!). He also has a pretty good eye for photography as well (same as with Photoshop, he's more brave about experimenting--but that is probably a good thing because then he inspires me to try new things as well).

Here are some of his first Photoshop edits with a mixture of our photos . . . we are always taking turns with the camera so sometimes it gets confusing to remember who took what photo when looking at them out of context--though these particular photos should be pretty obvious. ;-)

 We couldn't decide which edit we liked best on these two photos, so he did it both ways. :-)

Anyhow, I think he's awesome (both as a husband AND as an amateur, hobbyist photographer), so I wanted to share his talent with you. :-)