Red, Baldy & The 'B'

Welcome to the World Baby Girl

2008-10-27T21:15:00.004-07:00

Here she is- I haven't figured out a nickname for her yet and if you haven't received an email on her name and we know you, you'll be getting one soon. She was born on Wednesday morning, weighing in at 9lbs 9ozs at 21 inches long.

Yeah- and the doctor guessed about 8lbs. When I said 9lbs 8ozs was my guess about a month ago he looked at me like I was crazy. This from the same man that told me at the 36 week appointment that he wasn't measuring my uterine height because I was 'way big enough'- jerk. Really I love my doctor, even though he forgot about my c-section on Wednesday morning and had to be called over from his office to perform the surgery. He raced into my labor and delivery room about 15 minutes prior to the surgery. I looked at him and said "you forgot about me?" He responded with "SO, I'm hey, I'm here, and we're not scheduled for another 15 minutes, so technically I'm on time." He's lucky I really like him and I'm lucky he caters to my various states of neurosis. Anyway- and here she is with the proudest big brother ever.

Real Quick

2008-09-02T17:53:00.003-07:00

The other day the three and 2/3 of us were in the car on our way home from I have no idea where. Baldy and I were in a deep discussion (about what I have no idea), but I had looked at him and said; "you're such a hypocrite."

From the back seat, the B launched- "yeah Dad, you're a big cricket."

The B and I could barely control ourselves; Baldy, not so amused.

More later- gotta make dinner.

Bonus

2008-07-31T21:00:00.002-07:00

The baby finally let Baldy feel her kick. She's been running marathons in there but anytime Baldy comes near me she stops in her tracks. Tonight she was active when I came home from work and she kicked pretty hard when he was waiting for her to. He was thrilled but kind of weirded out. He was gone all but five weeks of the B's pregnancy so he never had the opportunity to feel kicks before.

I told him to imagine how I feel during a meeting when I'm trying to get a point across and she's doing backflips. It's really hard not to ask the people around me "Did you see that?" as I see my shirt move out of the corner of my eye.

I love feeling her kick and move, but I'm still amazed that there's a person in there.

Zits and Mosquito Bites

2008-07-31T20:38:00.004-07:00

One of the joys of this pregnancy has been the flare up factor that my face, back and shoulders have had to endure. I never broke out like this with the B and I wonder if for me it's a girl carrying thing? Really as long as we get a baby out of this I would endure just about anything, so although not the most fun or most attractive parts of pregnancy; it's been sucked up and dealt with.

The B asked in the past why I had 'owies' that would come and go. I told him sometimes when you have a baby in your tummy these chemicals called hormones are in your body and they make zits pop up. He understood and carried on with his day. Some may think this response is too technical for a kid his age, but he handles this stuff pretty well.

Well this July brought the Monsoons into town, and with it mosquitoes. Generally we don't get too buggy around here since it's pretty dry. But the past few weeks we've had a decent amount of rain, so we have a bunch of mosquitoes. We didn't realize how many mosquitoes were hanging out in our yard til last Sunday.

The B and I were out in the yard around sunset and he wanted his little pool filled. I occasionally add some baby bath to the pool outside to spice things up. He likes it, the water is warm from the hose and he smells really good after; a perfect combination. So I pulled up a chair and we talked as he bathed. I noticed I was getting bit up something fierce, and swatted a few away from him and realized it was time to go in. I rinsed the B and went inside for bed.

The next morning as he was washing his hands he looked in the mirror and yelled for me, kind of panicky like. I came into the bathroom and this was what was said:

B: Mom, look at all these zits on my face and neck, and my arms, look at my legs!

Me: Babe- those aren't zits they're mosquito bites from being in the yard last night.

B: Whoa- for a minute there I thought I might have a baby in my tummy!

His mind is like a steel trap.

Time is Flying

2008-07-29T19:49:00.009-07:00

This picture was taken in March when we were at the zoo. I want to eat his cheeks.

I can't believe we only have three months left. At this time with the B I was on bedrest due to placenta previa. I had bled on July 8th and ended up in the hospital. This pregnancy and the B's are only a few weeks off; his real due date was October 12. Her real due date is Halloween. So as I watch t.v. commercials for the summer Olympics I'm having flashbacks. The Olympics was really the only thing to watch while on bedrest in a German hospital. That was of course during my third stint in the hospital.

During my first 10 day 'vacation' in the klinikum I met my friend Christy. I was 26 weeks and she was at 33 weeks. Once I stayed 10 days without complications and she made it to 35 weeks complete, we would be sprung from our confines. It was great to have a roomate who could relate to my own situation; husband deployed, surrounded with good friends, first baby and we were both having boys. We talked about our deployed husbands, and answered each other's phones when the other was being fetal heart monitored. When I was allowed to walk I'd push Christy in a wheelchair (she wasn't allowed to walk) down to the hospital garden and we got some air and sun. When we were hungry or in need of cold milk I'd raid the fridge across the hall, until the nurses figured it out and started locking the fridge. We watched movies on the laptop, I think we got through every season of "Friends" between naps. We both had a bunch of vistors who took care of us and spent time with us which helped move time along. I don't where I would have been without my great friends in Germany, and I am really thinking about all of them right now. You know who you are the ones that took care of me at home and the one's at the hospital, you all really made a difficult situation not really all that bad.

My second stint was frightening. My next roomate was German and married to an American Soldier, so we had stuff to talk about and could communicate. Her English was perfect, but she never stopped talking. She had a really hairy tush and wore those little net panites the hospital gives you with the hospital gown, so her hairy tush was hanging out all the time. She ended up having her baby the day I got there. He roomed with us which was fine, but the poor kid wanted to eat and be held; and she talked to him. I'm really not kidding, the girl's answer to everything was talking. I didn't want to tell her what to do- but all I wanted to do was hold the poor kid and shove a bottle in his mouth. Within three days my doctor released me and forewarned me that the next time I bled, I was in the hospital until the B's birthday. I had Beth pick me up so quick. I couldn't wait to get home to my puppy, who appropriatly so would also have his hairy tush hanging out.

My third stint was supposed to be the final one, but I was so not ready to stay in the hospital. I pulled a real life German roomy this time. It was fun to try and communicate with my broken German and her broken English. We got along great, but we cried a lot together. I was all hormonal and worried about delivering too early, and of course my husband was in Iraq and I worried about him all the time. She thought she was loosing her baby, and having been through it I knew how horrible that was. Although the company was great, I still pleaded with the doctor to go home. I just was not ready to be in there for the long haul. I was admitted on a Saturday and my doctor was not working, if she had been I would have definitely been confined. The doctor on duty felt I was putting too much stress on myself and I would do better at home. So Sunday morning he set me free. By 6pm that night I was back at the hospital bleeding again and about to begin the fourth and final stint. I had admitted defeat. I had also received a phone call from my real doctor that evening. Besides saying hello and asking me how I felt overall I knew I was done when she said "now you stay." For him and for me I knew I was better off in the hospital, just incase. That was it, and the c-section was set for September 12th. The B had other plans...

Thinking back on where I was four years ago makes me miss so many people. I was fortunate to have such a tough experience go well, and to have such great people support me through it.

I just can't believe we're here. She's kicking and punching. Yesterday it was like she was preparing for the Olympics. She was everywhere, I think I even saw an elbow. It looked like the dorsal fin of a shark on the top of my tummy. It seemed like an elbow. She can be jumping all over and the minute Baldy comes over to feel her kick- she is completely still. I wish she'd let him feel a kick. There is definitely no hiding the fact that she's in there- I'm 50 inches around! I was about the same size at this point with the B. Here's the pic Jenn asked for... just keep in mind, my son was about two months early and still weighed close to 7lbs. Based on the notes regarding circumference, etc that I took while pregnant with the B; it seems as though she's on track to be a big kid too. I only got to 55 inches with the B, but I delivered at 32+ with him. I can't wait to see how big this one gets! Hey, although it seems pretty sick, this is the jist of excitement for the time being.

I still have a bunch to blog about- so much to catch up on, but I have to go get some rest now... I still have to blog about this, I'm so freaking proud of him.

Benefit for a Friend

2008-07-19T16:56:00.003-07:00

I only have a little bit of time before I think the B will wake up from his nap and I have about a million things I want to get done before then...but I wanted to get this on the blog before it was too late. This is the link to the benefit for my friend Diana: http://home.comcast.net/~cdrenth28/site/?/home/. I had written about her a while ago, her bone marrow transplant did't take and she will endure another one after more chemo. If you can leave a kind word on the site, great; if you can leave a donation, even better.

Thanks!

Bring on the Pink

2008-06-10T20:34:00.003-07:00

O.k.- so on the 4th we found out we need to go shopping. It's a girl. On our way into the ultrasound I looked at Baldy and said, "You know it's a girl, right?" He immediately replied, "No, it's a boy, all of our kids will be boys." So once we got into the ultrasound room and the tech began to work her magic, she immediately said, "Do we want to know what it is?" We both said yes, and she congratulated us on our ability to agree on something, apparently we never agree on anything in her midst (she was also our tech during our NT testing). Anyway, our little girl was not a bit modest. I was shocked that I was right, and thought- what the hell am I going to do with a girl? Baldy's immediate reaction looked something more like, oh hell, I'm so in trouble and there isn't nearly a large enough shotgun to keep menacing boys away from my porch. So then I said to Baldy, "Well, the B got what he wanted," since the B has been telling me endlessly that we needed a girl. And to this my husband responded, "So did I, I got a baby." At which point you could already see him preparing to be wrapped around the pinky finger of his unborn daughter. By the time we left the ultrasound he was mush. This kid has so got him trained already and she hasn't even winked at him yet. I on the other hand, although thrilled to have a baby regardless of gender, was a little spooked.

See, I understand that I am a girl. But I never was a girly girl. I wear make-up, do my hair, whatever. But when I was a little girl, I had ONE Barbie, and I didn't even ask for her; it was a gift from my aunt. I liked her (liked the Barbie- I love my aunt), but I think I eventually blew her up with an M-80 in the gangway one day. The Barbie, not my aunt.

I have been part of many nieces lives. They are wonderful, but I was around a lot when they were little and still liked bugs and mud. Once the oldest niece was around 15-ish I was blowing stuff up in basic training, and from there on out I've been everywhere but home. I just worry about the 11 to 17 year age range. I was a good kid, but that's basically because I was good at not getting caught doing most of the stuff I would have been in a whole heep of trouble for otherwise.

When I told my mom it was a girl she was thrilled. But then I told her I was in a whole bunch of trouble since she had cursed all of us kids by saying "what goes around comes around." To which poetry rang from my mother's lips, "You were no where near as bad as you sister Kelly was." Hee hee. I then told her that she didn't know half of the stuff I shouldn't have done. Her reply: "Well, ignorance is bliss. But, since you know what she can get into, you'll be ready for it." That didn't comfort me too much, may have made me panic a little more. But then I thought, my little girl could be sitting in my shoes in about thirty years, talking to me like this telling me about how excited she was to have her baby. And thinking of that made me so ready for her.

I'll have to blog later about the B's response since it's getting late. At least the constant bickering between he and his father has stopped. Baldy and the B would pass in the hall and as they did Baldy would say, "It's a boy," which would make the B snipe back "You're wrong, it's a girl," and then cage fighting without the cage would ensue.

Ha, I'm having a girl, hee hee.

Looking Forward, Wishing for Better Now and Thinking Back

2008-06-02T19:30:00.006-07:00

Tomorrow we go to see what color the parasite will wear. We thought with our second we'd like to be surprised. With the 'B' I had wanted to be surprised, but Baldy wanted to know the gender. Since he was in Iraq at the time I figured I could give him at least that. And there was no way I was going to let him know and not find out myself. Now with this one, we feel we've tried hard enough to get this far that we deserve a little look see.
On a much cruddier note I got some awful news today. A friend of mine that I met in college is not doing too well. She's been fighting leukemia for quite a few months now; has gone through a bunch of chemo, enough radiation to make four people light up in the dark and a bone marrow transplant. All this while her little girl turned one. Please pray for her and her family. If you read this, I'm thinking of you and miss you, and your pain in the ass sister too.
Besides my friend, right now there are way too many people that I know first hand who are gettting treated for, in remission of or who think they might have some form of cancer. Hell, Baldy's mom is on chemo and my dad is going in for surgery tomorrow. Fortunately I have a friend that beat it last year, for good hopefully, and I hope the other stories have that kind of ending too.
To end my ramble on a more positve note; my parents are celebrating their 52nd Wedding Anniversary today. In their 52 years they've had eight kids, welcomed 16 grandkids (with one on the way) and one great-grand baby. Way to go guys.

A Three-Year-Old's View

2008-05-04T21:09:00.005-07:00

O.k.- I'm exhausted from having Drill this weekend (and I no longer fit into my ACU's), and we just got home from spending the evening with Baldy's parents and family, but I keep wanting to blog this one conversation the B and I had a couple weeks ago...

B: So you're having a baby, huh Mom?

Me: Yep, what do you think it's going to be?

B: Well it HAS to be a girl!

Me: Well, what if it's a boy?

B: (With a horrified look and his hands clutching the sides of his face) But no, it can't be a boy, that would just screw up our whole family! (As he paces like a caged tiger)

Me: Why sweety?

B: Mom, you are a girl, Dad is a boy, I am a boy; now we need another girl so we match, hello?

Me: (Turning to my three year old trying to remember he's three as he gives me a 'duh' look) Well babe, we don't get to choose, we get what we get.

B: Well you better go talk to that doctor and tell him what we want.

Me: The doctor doesn't choose, God will give us what he thinks we should have.

B: Well then you need to go talk to God.

Ha! Yeah, he is three. And believe it or not, he and I have conversations like this all the time. I then reminded him how much I adored him and said if I were to have a bunch of boys like him I'd be the happiest Mom ever. Then he looked at me and said, "well, maybe a boy wouldn't be too bad, but I still think it should be a girl."

On Thursday we may get to find out. That's our next appointment and ultrasound. My doctor knows how neurotic I am, and since we're 1 for 5 in the pregnancy category; he's ordered an ultrasound each visit to maintain my sanity. I wish it were that easy.

Picture

2008-04-11T20:37:00.003-07:00

We went to the doctor yesterday and got to see the baby. We're right on track for 11 weeks and everything seems to be good. I'll feel much better at the next appointment when I get to see that little heart beating again and I'll be at about 15 weeks. Here's a picture of our little parasite. My scanner is on strike so I had to take a picture of the ultrasound, sorry it's not the best quality. It's a pretty fuzzy ultrasound too. I promised my doctor that when I win the lottery I'll purchase a new machine for them. She said she'd have them name a suite on the woman's health floor after me if I did. I have to go keep the B awake now. Baldy's on nights right now and I have Drill this weekend, so as I'm ready to walk out the door he's walking in, and he'll be tired. I plan to exhaust the B and keep him up late so he'll sleep in late with Baldy in the morning. Fortunately the B is night owl like me. Unfortunately the pregnancy has left me ready to pass out by 8pm. Which, at this point is thrilling at the same time it's exhausting. That and the crankiness, and the fact that I'm breaking out like I'm in high school are all good signs for me. Keep those fingers crossed.

A Little Venting...

2008-03-19T19:28:00.002-07:00

How on earth does an urgent care facility that has been covered by your insurance mysteriously turn into one that is no longer covered? And, of course it happens when you have been to said urgent care a bunch of times recently? Grrrr. I know, these things happen all the time, I just didn't think I had to check the insurance company's website before each and every visit to a facility that I had already looked up, made sure it was covered, and then started going to. What I hate even more is that the insurance company says, "go ahead and pay the bill, then request reimbursement." Are they crazy? Or, "mam, it's the patient's responsibility to be sure the facility is covered." Read above.... And I love that they have no record of anyone in our family going to that urgent care and them having paid for it in the past. Now my husband understands why I keep every damn piece of paper that comes in contact with my hot little hand... I'll see how many levels of operators this will take me through.

Another gripe. How does an oral surgeon send a bill for a 'removal of a foreign body', from your mouth, when it's a bone spur that occured from the jaw it was taken from? How is something that originated in your mouth foreign? And get this, since it's 'a bone issue and not a tooth issue' it's not covered by the dental insurance, but was pre- certified by the health insurance, and now the health insurance says it's not covered? I used to love our health insurance company. Now, I can't wait til 'benefits open season' to change providers. I think health and dental insurance are great. This is the first time in three years I've ever had a problem with insurance. But I wish dealing with insurance in the real world was as easy as it was when we were in the military.

I guess it's a good sign that I'm such a raving lunatic. Generally, with the last two pregnancies I was fairly calm and not too moody, and those ended at 12 and 9 weeks. This time I'm ready to box with the guy in the next car during rush hour just because his music is too loud and the bass vibrations coming from his vehicle make me want to hurl. We're keeping our fingers crossed over here. Poor Baldy. I've been really crabby. But at the same time, I gave him fair warning as soon as I started feeling super cranky and told him to not question me, argue with me, look in my direction for too long as to annoy me, take anything I might say to heart, unless it's something nice, etc... which, translated means: breathe in my direction and catch me in a bad mood your tail's fair game. See, when I was pregnant with the 'B', Baldy was on his way to Iraq, so he was only around for the first five weeks of the pregnancy. Since he was on his way to a really cruddy place for a really long time, I made a huge effort to be kind to my husband. I was missing him before he left. So now he's here, and he's getting everything he missed and then some. Poor guy.

On top of it I just started a new job due to a promotion, and have been trying to learn the new job while training the person I hired for the old job. Baldy started his new job too, (which I still haven't blogged about how flipping proud I am of him and what he's accomplished) which has the 'B's' schedule and mine in a constant state of temporary adjustment. Which is well worth it, but makes things crazy right now, which adds to my crankiness. A few more weeks and everything will settle down, hopefully we'll be out of the woods by the beginning of May with the pregnancy and a lot more settled at work.

Why is it when ever you pull some cash together to do something fun a bill you didn't expect shows up? Grrrrrr. But it could always be worse. I guess I should find comfort in the fact that we can pay those unexpected nasties.

Computers Hate Me

2008-03-14T20:59:00.002-07:00

Our laptop crashed while I was in Chicago. Yet another reminder to never leave electronic equipment alone with my husband, ever. I'm surprised the t.v. still works, since he's been trying to convince me we need a new one of those too. Anyway, since the laptop is kaput, so is the file I had nicely organized with all the rest of last year's update pictures. I'll get around to it soon again. Tomorrow we're off to the zoo with Auntie T and all three of her kids.

Oh, and I'm pregnant.

More later...

Catching up Dec 06 til May-ish 07

2008-02-10T16:47:00.001-07:00

Let's see how much time I get to write. I just gave the B and Daddy hair cuts, so they're off de-fuzzing..

I finally had a chance to sit down and go through this years pictures to see what I'd post. Some of the months got a little mushed this year; there was so much going on and for about a quarter of it I was really sick, (three months of strep throat that wouldn't die). So, many months were taken on the camera, and not knowing where some of the months started or ended per download, here's the year (starting from where I left off Nov 06):

In November we went on a Christmas walk through Glendale, and I noticed something I hadn't before:

I thought this was pretty cool. A little Germany close to home.

December started with Baldy going in for surgery on his arm. He came through like a champ and his recovery was much easier than expected. Then when his recovery ended, he was on to his next journey...more on that later.

Then Christmas prep. Spiderman cookies for Santa along with serial killer impressions by the B:

And then there was Christmas:

How is it that my parents get gifts for my kid that they would have never gotten me? I never woke up to a Mustang on Christmas morning.

A day or two before New Year's we ended up taking in a puppy our neighbor found. She was a complete spaz. Bouncing off the walls, just crazy, so we figured she'd fit right in with our family. She was half Pug and half Boston Terrier, we called her Maya.

Then we went to this New Year's party,

the B on karaoke

While at the party (which was outside) and right after midnight a family came by looking for their little black dog. Baldy and I were crushed. It wasn't a really good time to have to give up a puppy. See, if we hadn't miscarried in the July previous, we'd be expecting a new baby right after New Year's. It sucked, but at least a family got their puppy back. We only had her for a few days, but she was a character and we got attached.

I think it was in the February - March time frame I fell down this mountain. O.k., it's a really big, big hill, but it was really steep and I landed face first on the adjacent really big hill.
Stop laughing.

I was at Battle Assembly, a fancy shmancy term for what we used to call 'Drill' in the Army Reserves. Anyway, we were training, doing a little land navigation and were at the top of that hill above, where I had taken this picture:

Then, I had to move over to the next hill to find my point. I figured it would be a good idea to run down the hill to build momentum to get up the next hill. Really not one of my best ideas. My foot got stuck under a mass of brush at the bottom of the hill, and I smacked face first into the next hill. Fortunately I didn't rough up my high-speed new uniform. But, not the best way to test the strength of the fabric, which really, ahem, was my true intention.

Moving on...

Potty training. I give B all the credit here, he did most of this on his own. Here we see the B testing the new drawers Auntie J had just sent him in the mail:

Then my parents came in from the Windy City to visit. Here's the B with Grampa.

And my mom helped cook while she was here! I had to take a picture; the woman hasn't entered the kitchen since 1965, except of course to ask my dad when dinner's gonna be ready. She's my idol.

I love Spring in the desert. You could never have a naked 'baby' in a bucket of water outdoors before Easter in the Midwest.

Here's B flying a kite that the Bunny brought.

Meet my arch nemesis. This dove moved into our yard right after we moved in. She had like five litters (not the correct term?) of baby birds in a year or so and we kept her protected and safe throughout her pregnancies. There was even one night a cat launched off our patio table, tried to get to her and smacked into our bedroom window and then hung on the screen and attempted to climb up to her. I flew out of bed, ran outside an scared the cat away. How does she repay me? She stole all the baby mojo from the respective area by showing up and getting pregnant each time I wanted to. We haven't seen her in a while and just got the go ahead to start trying again. I hope she keeps her distance.

In May we took a trip to Chicago. I love it there. If it only had the same climate we do here...

We came into town to attend one of my bestfriend's weddings. Jimmy and I grew up down the block from one another. He married a beautiful, wonderful woman. He got really lucky. Kidding, they both did.

Our trip also gave us some time to hangout with friends:

and meet new family...

This is my great-nephew Little C. I wasn't able to hold him because I had pink eye (as far as health issues this year, we had plenty). I just wanted to moosh him he was so little and cute...

and some time to hit the Shedd Aquarium.

O.k., I've just been informed that I "have three more minutes on the computer and then it's time to wrestle," my kid swears our living room is the UFC ring. I'll catch up with the rest of the year soon.

A year, really- where the heck have I been?

2007-12-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

How in the heck did a year just completely pass and I didn't post anything? I really suck at keeping up with this blog thing. I have a list of things in my planner to blog about, and most of the little notes I left myself mean absolutely nothing to me since I wrote them, a year ago! A lot has been going on around here in the past year, and we just keep getting busier and busier. I'm not going to kid myself and say I'll blog about it, but maybe a photo montage of the year in review, but again I'm not giving a set time when that's going to happen; for crying out loud the last time I blogged I was promising pictures of the house with lights and that sure as hell didn't happen. Have some faith kids, it's coming. I've been super busy- and if you're looking to get me something for Christmas, I could use a few more hours in the day. But, I promised my nieces I'd get my act togther enough to post again. Baby steps, ladies. Again- how often is your Aunt late with the birthday gifts, but she always delivers (and S&D, I still have yours). Til the next time the B gives me a turn on the computer...

Getting Older, Settled and Full

2006-11-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

For the Getting Older Part: November 20, 2006

I've aged. I've entered the last year of my twenties. Where in the heck did the past 6 years go? Last time I checked I was 23. Seems since Baldy and I met, time has been moving at break-neck speed. So, on the 20th, I turned 29.
The day was a great way to usher in my new year- decent day at work and welcomed home by Baldy, an ever so excited 'B', sushi and 'happy cake', the latter crafted by the 'B' (and cause for the excitement, 'look Mommy I made you happy cake').

It was absolutely wonderful happy cake, crunchy due to the copious amount of sprinkles, but still delicious.

The 'B' actually did pretty well with the chopsticks while eating his dinner.

And of course he helped me blow out the candles.

As Baldy and I were eating dinner- we thought about what we were doing last year at this time. It was the 'B's and my last night in Germany, and we had dinner at our favorite local restaurant. Right off Rose Barracks there was this little place called the Seafood Restaurant. We ate there so much that they stopped handing us menus when we came in. They would just ask if there was any change to what we'd like (there never was) and brought the usual.

This is a picture of him our last night in Germany. I can't believe how much he's changed in a year. He still had curls and was just learning to run. Now he's flying off furniture, wrestling with the dog and reasoning with me. I love the shirt he's wearing. It says 'My Dad is Stronger than your Dad'. Wish I could find one in my size.

The Part About Getting Settled- November 21, 2006

On the 21st it was officially a year since the 'B' and I have been back in the states. On the 29th, it was a year for Baldy. We finally feel like our house is 'home'. We miss Germany, and I really miss Chicago, but we finally have settled into our home. The year flew by, and this year we will have our first real Christmas in our home. Last year everything was still enroute from Germany so we were staying with Baldy's parents.This year the outside lights started going up last weekend and the tree went up on the 4th. I say the outside lights started going up because it seems endless. Baldy feels the need to cover anything that will stand still in lights. You could probably see our house from space. Pictures to follow. He's been home from work in preparation for his elbow surgery next week. Lots of time on his hands equates to a clean home and new ideas of how to wire the dogs collar with lights. Can't complain about the house being clean, but I pray the dog makes it through the holidays unsinged.
It's been interesting to see all our Christmas stuff. We haven't seen it in three years. Our first year in Germany we had everything up, Baldy's parents came to visit and we did a bunch of traveling. The next year Baldy was in Iraq and the 'B' and I came to the States so he could meet the family. Last year, the move. We've been pleasantly surprised by the lack of broken stuff. Come to think of it, this will ony be the second time we've put up Christmas decorations since we've been married. Right after our wedding, we packed up for the move to Germany, and that was in November of 2002.

And Finally the Full- Thanksgiving 2006

This Thanksgiving was tough. I really missed everyone in Chicago. I was in AZ last Thanksgiving, but was happy the big part of the move was pretty much over that as long as I wasn't on a plane or in transit, I was thrilled. Baldy spent his Thanksgiving in the DFAC in Germany and finishing up the last few final 'clearing' things he had to do. This year was the first Thanksgiving Baldy and the 'B' have ever spent together, and the first in three that he and I have spent together.
Our first Thanksgiving together was a pretty funny one, in 2001. He was stationed at Ft. Hood, and I was in Chicago still. I had the long weekend off and hadn't seen him in a month, so I figured I'd see if I could find a cheap last minute ticket to Texas. Well, a few days prior he thought the same thing and had already bought a ticket and had secretly planned with my sister to come in to surprise me. Not knowing this, I jumped online at the library and found a sweet ticket that flew me from Chicago to Dallas with a hop right into the Killeen airport right next door to Ft. Hood, all for $100. I called my sister and told her I couldn't pass it up. She told me to just come home. I told her I wasn't leaving that library til she told me what was going on. Angry with my stubborness, but knowing I was going to buy it if she didn't spill, she told me Baldy was on his way from Texas to surprise me. I was so excited and wanted to surprise him by showing up at the airport to pick him up. My sister wouldn't let me. She was upset with me for making her tell the secret, and punished me by making me wait at the house with my nieces. Infuriated, I waited. When they walked in from the airport the youngest niece and I were reading a book on the couch. Baldy followed my sister up the stairway to where we were and expected this huge surprised rush of emotion. I looked up from the book and said, 'oh, hi honey', and kept reading. He was floored. He looked at my sister and said, "I gave up being at the Cowboys game for this?" Then I told him I was miffed that he one, tried to surprise me (I hate surprises) and two, I couldn't beat him at his own game because my sister was being mean. (yes you were). I got over it real quick, and apoligized. He's always been the romantic. I totally am not worthy of his romantic notions. Needless to say I felt much better when he told me he had paid over $500 for his plane ticket. That still gnaws at him. We had a great Thanksgiving that year. At that time we had no idea we'd be spending the next one with all our stuff on its way to Germany.

This year we were all together in AZ. Baldy's parents and sister's family are out here, and so is one of my sisters and her family, so we're fortunate to share time with family often. At the holidays though, I miss my parents house; full of people, louder than you could imagine. I miss having all the traditional Thanksgiving stuff, in addition to Dad's potato dumplings and saurkraut and my sister 'P's three different versions of cranberry sauce (the year she added dill was not my favorite). I miss playing card and dice games at the big table with them after dinner, fighting for a seat with any niece, who eventually takes up part of your lap if she can't find a suitable spot. This year, we celebrated my birthday and dinner with Baldy's side first. The 'B' was hanging in there until we sat down for dinner. With all the action happening he hadn't had a nap. So when dinner came around he took a few bites of turkey and then looked at me with those big blue pathetic 'I'm about to pass out' eyes. He spent the rest of dinner sleeping on the swing next to the table.
We ate outside, the weather was perfect.. After dinner and a little relaxation we went to my sister's to have dessert and celebrate my birthday again, along with my niece's, her dad's, his nephew's and the nephew's wife's birthdays. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving.

Finally- a post!

2006-11-11T04:36:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten my act together (enough to post anyway) and decided to begin posting.
I knew I wanted to post the 'B's Halloween pictures from this year and decided to look back on the past couple of years to see how he's grown. I say that like he's an old man. The kid is two. So here are his 1st, 2nd and now 3rd Halloween.
His first Halloween he was a leopard. He wore the costume all seven of my siblings and I wore, and 14 out of his 15 cousins wore. By the time we were lucky enough to call one my nieces our own, she was too big to wear the costume.
By the way, congratulations 'A' on finally being my brother's daughter legally. You've been ours since we met you- but are now lucky to have you wear our name as well!
As you can tell by the picture the 'B' was thrilled on his first Halloween. The night consisted of him wearing the costume, me taking a few pictures and then he fell asleep while I handed out candy. Baldy (aka Daddy) was in Iraq. The 'B' didn't even make an appearance in costume on web-cam that evening. He was just not into it.

Here's a picture of me in the same costume. I was almost a year old. The costume is now almost 50 years old.

The next year the 'B' was a dinosaur. They had a parade at the Child Development Center (daycare) on post. All of the infants were darling, but I cannot explain how cute he and the other walking infants were. That year I was the 'bad mommy'. He fell asleep on the way home from work and I woke him up to make him go trick-or-treating. Daddy was home from Iraq by this point and tried to convince me to let the poor kid sleep. Not a chance. We were living in Germany still and I had bought this costume online; it was going to be used! I love Halloween and I forced the 'B' to partake in the festivities. He walked (he had just learned to walk like two weeks prior, so it was more like; walk, trip, fall, recover, repeat...) up to two houses, ate a sucker, took a bath and then passed out.

This year was much more fun. We were back in the States, and the 'B' knows what candy is. I wanted him to be something cute again, but the boy, much like his mother, is very opinionated. We knew we had to let him pick out his own costume. We took him to the store and he picked Spiderman. He ran around the house for weeks before Halloween with this costume and mask on. Then, on the actual day, this was the only time he wore the mask. At least I got one picture. He played with friends, went trick-or-treating, had a great sugar high and then crashed at about 9:30 p.m. It was a good Halloween.

Today is Veteran's Day. It's a special day for Baldy and me.

Last year in July we came to the States to buy a home and visit family and friends. We bought our home, went back to Germany to pack up, and then finally moved back in November 2005. Between the purchase and the move, Baldy's parents installed a flag pole in front of our home. It was a welcome home gift. It was awesome to come back to the States to our new home with the flag flying in our yard. It was even more sweet since Baldy had just been home from Iraq for less than a year. We retired our flag in the last month or so since it had worn and frayed. We went out today with the intentions of buying a new flag to fly. We went to a particular store to buy a new one, and came home with everything but. Halfway home we looked at one another and went 'we meant to buy...uh...geez'. We really wanted to fly it today.

We have a bunch of people in our family who have served in the military. Both of our dads, his granddads, a few uncles and cousins, both of my brothers, my brother's wife, Baldy and I, we've all been in the military. For anyone who has served, and your families, thank you.