Chairs and Reading

There has never been a doubt that Miss Hadleigh Claire has loved books since the day she was born. I am guessing that most babies are similar, but she loves spending lots of time in front of her books. We have now expanded and have three places for her books because she has SO many of them. We have a basket in the living room and a basket in the library, and the book case in her room has all the books that she can only read with Dada and Mama (aka they aren't board books). She also likes to read the same books over and over again, and LOVES to make animal noises whenever possible.

Hadleigh has also recently taken a liking to chairs. A couple of weeks ago we went to my friend Stephanie's house for lunch. She has a little mini arm chair for her girls and Hadleigh crawled right over to the chair, sat down and reclined back with one leg over the arm. Hilarious! I am not sure where she learned that technique though! I was thinking about getting her a little chair and my friend Sar had found a cute one for her little Annie at Big Lots. When I went to Big Lots, the chairs were all kind of lame...sorry, but I really don't want a picture of Cinderella in my living room. But we do have a chair already that is pretty low to the ground, and Hadleigh has figured out how to get off and on the chair. She sits and reads. She pulls up all her stuffed animals and has a little party on the chair. She is hilarious.

Yesterday she was standing up, holding onto the arm of the chair and leaning over the arm to grab her stuffed animals from her basket. She managed to get the animals on top and then had to reach a little farther down into the basket for the rest. She ended up doing a header into the basket. It was hilarious! She climbed out of the basket and back onto the chair as if she meant to dive into her stuffed animals. I wish I had my camera out for that one.

A Baby Pool? I Mean, Really!

A few weeks ago I purchased a little blow-up wading pool for Hadleigh. We have had a bit of a time trying to figure out the best place to put the pool, because we have no hose spicket on the outside of the house. We decided to run a hose from the washer in the basement out the door and to the pool. The other problem is that the back of the house is no place for a baby pool, and our side yard is a bit slopped. But we finally found a decent place and everytime we want to use the pool we unhook the washer and hook up the hose and drag everything to the side yard.

I had kind of been thinking it was all a little bit inconvenient. So, my friend, Sar, suggested that I just leave the pool filled up in the side yard, instead of dumping it out everday after Hadleigh had used it. I thought that might be a might messy because of all the trees and bushes in our yard would drop stuff into the pool, so she suggested putting a tarp over the pool. Great idea!

We tried it for the first time last week. Bad news. A swarm of mosquitos decided to use the pool to breed. But in spite of the new family of mosquitos living in the yard, we decided to try again. The second time we left the tarp on, we noticed that someone had trampled through our yard, ripped the tarp off and trampled in the pool. We thought...well, maybe it was an animal, so we tried one more night. Monday morning Dave went out to find the tarp off, evidence that indeed someone had trampled through the pool and popped a hole in the bottom of the pool. I mean, really!

The whole thing is a bit creepy too. The pool is not in our front yard, and it is behind Dave's car, so not necessarily visible from the road. Someone had to be stomping through our yard to find the pool. Who does that?

Take Me Out to the Traffic Jam?

This past Saturday we thought it would be fun to head down to "The Ted" for the Braves game. They were playing at 4 and I thought that was the most perfect time to take Hadleigh, after nap and just a little past bedtime.

Unfortunately we got off to a REALLY rocky start. Despite having the MARTA connection so close we decided to drive. I know realize that I should have exerted my knowledge of MARTA and Braves games because Dave had only been to a game one other time and didn't realize how insane it can get driving.

Anyway, we set off and for some unknown reason 75/85 was clogged to almost a stopping position from Lenox Road all the way to who knows where. Did I mention that our car thermostat rang in at 101 as we sat in our car and baked on the fwy? We also don't have air, so we literally baked. We finally pulled off at Spring Street and weaved our way over to the field. Of course then we sat and baked again as we waited to park. Hadleigh was really upset, and feeling a little overdone and of course I was in a FOUL mood, so while waiting for a parking space I grabbed her and we walked to get tickets and to be out of the car.

Whenever I had gone to games in the past, unless it was with a big group, I would always buy the $5 day of the game tickets. They were standing room only, but you could always find a decent seat somewhere. Well, by the time we got there, apparently all the cheap seats were sold out, so I ended up buying a $10 SRO ticket. I mean the game was packed out like I have never seen! We roamed around for a while and finally found a couple of seats in the upper pavillion along the first base line...the problem at that point was that the seats were SO hot from sitting in the sun that they were burning my legs. We finally settled on "sitting" where you are suppose to "sit" when you have SRO tickets. We climbed to the tip top of the upper pavillion where there is a chain linked fence and a ledge that is about 3 inches wide. It was in the shade, there was a little room for Hadleigh to roam and did I mention it was in the shade. It was hard to see anything really, but at that point nobody cared.

I did stand up to see Chipper Jones hit his homer, which ended up being their only run of the game. It doesn't look good for the Braves this year...I mean who gets beat by the Detroit Tigers? Yikes! Overall Hadleigh had a great time. She kept everyone at the fence entertained, was mesmerized by the large screen and even did the tomahawk chop. I think that I have even resigned myself to root for the Braves. I mean if we are going to live here I might as well start rooting for them. Of course I will never root for the Braves over the Dodgers or even the Mets. All in all it turned out to be a decent day...I had just forgotten what Atlanta summers are like...wowee!

Fly Lady and Why Little Houses Are Better

When we first moved to Germany we happened upon our first house because another dentist in Baumholder was living there and moving back to the states. It was a perfect house. The kitchen was tiny, but welcome to Germany, we had two bedrooms upstairs along with the kitchen and a really large living/dining are. Our downstairs consisted of two additional room and a bathroom, along with a couple of large storage closets. It was really nice to arrive there and spread out a little bit (after our 6 month stint in a tiny two bedroom apartment here in the states).

After about 3 months of living in Henschtal, I was convinced we needed to move closer to Baumholder. We looked and looked for a place, but had little luck. Finally after 9 months of looking we happened upon a house in Mettweiler which was 6 km from Baumholder (which sure beat the 40km we were driving before). Actually my friend Kristen found the house in a last ditch effort to try to get us closer to post. The house was in good shape, it was cheap, the landlord was good...can't ask for much more. The house was also HUGE...as in 3000 square feet. We had 4 huge bedrooms, 2 bathrooms one of which was about the size of our current bedroom, a huge living room and a separate dining room. We also had a whole separate basement that had another large living area and bedroom and a big kitchen. It was really nice when we had guests, which was often, but other than that it was a BEAR to clean. Just mopping alone would take me over an hour to do and it needed to be mopped at least once a week.

My friend Lisa got me hooked on Fly Lady a couple months after Hadleigh was born. Fly Lady just helps all us good intentioned gals who wanna be disciplined about the house, actually have a system to be organized. I was hooked immediately. When I was able to keep up with things and kept to my little schedule cleaning went a lot faster...but mopping still took over an hour!

When we moved back here we began renting the cutest little 2 bedroom house. It is old and creaky and has horrible green carpet in the living room, but it is just perfect. There is definitely a permanency that comes with owning a home, and I do look forward to that one day, but Dave and I have talked again and again about what we would do to this house if we could stay forever. It is nice to have a large house, especially when it comes to having guests, but honestly Atlanta isn't quite as exciting as Germany, so we haven't had quite as many visitors. The thing that I love about this house is it takes me so little time to clean. I can vacuum the whole house in less than 20 minutes. Mopping takes me 10. Cleaning the bathroom is a snap, and I only have one to clean!

Sometimes I also want to stay in this house just to prove a point. Just to keep things simple and to show that a family of 4 upper-middle class white folks living in America can survive in a 2 bedroom rental house. It is kind of the same reason I don't want to buy a house in Tucker. Let's just stay different than the norm. But that is a silly reason to do anything, so I am sure eventually we will buy a house with 3 bedrooms. And who knows one day we might even buy a house in Tucker...but we will see about that.

Making Room for Baby

Ever since we discovered that our little family was expanding we have been making plans. There are always plans when a new baby is involved, but our plans for this baby are very different than our plans for Hadleigh.

This time around we are having to figure out what we are going to do with Hadleigh while I am in the hospital, do we need to get another crib, should we move Hadleigh to a big bed, etc. I remember growing up I watched this old Bob Hope movies called "The Seven Little Foys". Every time a new baby came he slept in a drawer. I have considered that.

Now that we are in the second half of the pregnancy we have answered many of those questions and have gotten just a tiny bit busy.

Since we live in a small 2 bedroom house and have no plans to move anytime in the near future, we have pondered what the sleeping arrangements should look like. Since my parents were in a similar situation when my little brother, Dan was born, I turned to Mom for some wisdom.

Our good friends, Bif and Kris, have taken us on as a charity, and regularly supply us with things they no longer need. We have their washer and dryer, an old arm chair of theirs, actually our queen guest bed is theirs, and now they are giving us their crib.

Last week we transformed our little library into a library/guest room. We brought the queen bed up from the basement and moved our little love seat out into the living room. This was handy for our visit with Brian and Elaine last weekend, and will be handy when our friends David and Eowyn and their 5 children visit in a couple weeks. It will also be nice when Mom comes out for a couple weeks after the little one is born.

We have decided that the little one and Hadleigh will share a room, so the extra crib will go in our second bedroom. Mom suggested that the little one can take her naps in the crib, but suggested we let her sleep in a bassinet in the living room until her night sleep gets organized. Worst case scenario the little one can be in our room, but I really hate sleeping near the baby because they make all these crazy noises in the middle of the night. Hadleigh slept in her pack and play in our bedroom this past weekend, and I was reminded again why I really hate sleeping with her. =)

So eventually we will pick up the crib from Bif and Kris, though I am in no major hurry to do that. I suppose that will be about the end of my planning.

This morning Hadleigh and I were playing on the bed and she touched my belly and said ba-ba. Pretty close to baby! I think she is starting to make room for the little one too. She is going to be a great big sister.

Peanut Butter and Bananas

In my last post about Hadleigh I forgot to mention some of her favorite foods. My friend Jess especially like when I add comments about what she is eating and reminded me that I left that part out of my last update. So I decided that we needed a little update on the food situation. Hadleigh is a great little eater. She still eats her super porridge in the morning- oatmeal and carrots and broccoli and an egg all mixed together. The rest of her meals are all table food. For a snack she loves all kinds of fruit, watermelon, cantelope, strawberries, grapes (these are her favorites), kiwi, etc. She also enjoys a good granola bar or some goldfish. This past week I started giving her PB sandwiches for lunch and she devours them. Yesterday I put slices of banana in the sandwich too. She has a bit of a hard time eating the sandwich, and makes a HUGE mess. But she loves wiping her face in between bits. She also loves chili, lasagna, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, hamburgers (though she is not a fan of french fries), grilled chicken, etc. Her favorite ice cream is Dairy Queen, though this past week she enjoyed some vanilla from Brusters.

13 Years and Counting

I cannot even believe that it has been 13 years since I started my freshman year at Asbury College. But it has been, and I still enjoy keeping up some of the friendships started there so long ago. My first day of freshman orientation when I was moving into room 216 of 2nd Glide I met this crazy southern girl, Elaine, who was moving into room 218 right next door. She called her roommate Jen (who was from PA), Jin. And she thought butt was a bad word. Those are just a few of my first memories of her.


Elaine arranged my 18th birthday which was just 2 weeks after the semester began. We went to her family's house in Glasgow along with 3 other gals. Eventually they surprised me with tickets to see Steven Curtis Chapman in Nashville...and I just thought we were going to Bowling Green for dinner!

We had classes together our freshman year. We were in choir together our sophomore year. We served as RAs together our junior year. And she served as ARD, while I served as RA again our senior year. Right before we graduated she asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. After my first surgery in Atlanta she drove down from Lexington to take care of me for the weekend. She helped me pick out my "Make him want a date outfit" that I wore to community group one night and later that week Dave FINALLY asked me out. And she managed to come down to Atlanta twice while Dave and I were dating, and then finally was a bridesmaid in my wedding, and even gave the toast at my reception. We have a long history of friendship and service to one another. I had always hoped that whenever I finally got married my husband would get along with Brian, and that has proved to be true which is a great blessing.

This past weekend Brian and Elaine and their little boy, Todd, came to visit. They were on their way to FL to visit family and were able to stop for a long weekend. It was so wonderful to see them.

Saturday morning we went to the Atlanta Zoo. Hadleigh barked at all the animals and Todd enjoyed the elephants and zebras. In the afternoon Elaine and I were able to continue a long tradition of getting pedicures together. Dave and Brian were able to get in 9 holes of golf on Sunday. The rest of the time we just hung out, watched the kiddos play, which was hilarious, and enjoyed being together again. It was a wonderful blessing to experience their friendship again and to know that after 13 years we are just beginning on our road to understanding one another and walking with one another.

Two Things, OK Fine...Three

1. For the first time since September 29, Dave is seeing his own patients and getting paid for seeing them. Dave has been at this practice since the beginning of April and they promised him that by the beginning of July they would fill his books with patients. They are slowly filling his books. This is wonderful news because it makes us feel like he is now permanent. Yea!

2. Yesterday Dave received confirmation that his corporation is legal. He is now McNumb Dental, PC. Dave will now be working as a contractor for this practice. It just means we have to get our own health insurance and pay all our own taxes at this point. Right now it is more of an expense than a luxury, but we hope eventually that will change. Did I also mention that I am the VP of McNumb Dental. That means that I take care of all the financials and taxes...yummy!

3. Does anyone listen to the Fish? Well, I pretty much have a hate-hate relationship with that radio station. I listen only when I am forced by knife-point. On the way to Piedmont the other day I was listening by knife-point and they had a segment called "What they don't want you to know: Dentists". Anyone??? Did you hear it? Well, Taylor starts out talking about amalgams. I can't do the dictionary pronounciation, but if I were to divide it up a-mal-gams. She pronounced it am-al-glams...it was horrendous! The whole segment was ridiculous. I sent an email of complaint later that day. I asked them to please, next time get their info from a dentist and NOT the internet, and to look up amalgam in the dictionary if you don't know how to pronounce it. OK, it wasn't that rude, but like I said...I am not a fan of the Fish...no grace here.

A Couple More Things about Hadleigh Claire

Yesterday we went to the doc for her 15 month appt. HC was a champ the whole visit and again did not even cry when she received her shot. She now weighs 21 pounds and is 30 inches long. She is just above 25% for both height and weight.

I was hoping that our doctor would not be concerned about the fact that Hadleigh is not walking yet. And I was thrilled when he told me that it was not a big deal. I feel like she is almost walking anyway, so why be worried?

After Hadleigh's nap she started playing with her little walker toy. She has been playing with it more and more and walks behind it well. The main problem is that she will stop walking when she runs into the couch or table. Yesterday she started walking around the house, which of course is rather small. Through the living room, into the hall, through the library, into the kitchen and back into the living room. Just one big circle. When she ran into objects she just picked up the walker a bit and kept going. She was even able to manage the lips of tile to carpet and carpet to hardwoods. The lip from hardwoods to tile gives her a little problem. She did flip over her walker once, but after I picked her up, she continued on her way. So, it seems that my life is about to change forever. I am crossing the threshold from baby to toddler.

15 Months

Today Miss Hadleigh Claire is 15 months old. For some reason 15 months sounds a little old, but she is still a baby to me. I think it helps that she isn't walking yet and doesn't have any hair. She still has that baby look about her.

I am not sure about her weight and height, but will post that next week after her dr. appt.

She loves animals. She loves making animal noises and playing with her toys that are animals and reading books that have animals in them. In fact her favorite commercial is when the puppies come out singing about fleas. She freaks out. I love her pig noise. It is so super cute, but can only be appreciated in person.

Another fun thing HC has been doing, is occasionally I will let her watch Sesame Street. She goes crazy for Elmo and Grover. I have also started letting her watch a baby einstein video every now and then. She really likes all the animals. Dave is still pretty adament about letting her watch TV, so we keep it to a minimum.

She is still doing the bear walk, with her back legs straight and hands on the ground, and she crawls all over the place. She will cruise the furniture and loves to stand behind toys or to walk holding onto my hands, but isn't interested in standing on her own. All babies walk eventually, so I'll just enjoy the extra time I have with her as a crawler. Once she starts walking I am sure it will be hard to keep her down.

She loves to organize. I clip coupons once a week and she love to sit on the floor by the couch. As I throw scraps of paper down on the floor she will pick it up, study it, and then make little piles. She also likes to make piles of my tupperware.

She is a cuddly little girl and loves to give lots of hugs and kisses. She still loves to be sung to at night and her favorite is "How Deep the Father's Love". She is always babbling up a storm. She will read books to herself and yesterday I caught her pretending to talk on the phone...that was hilarious.

Her bedtime is still about the same, she goes down at 6 and gets up at about 7. She is also taking two naps, her morning nap lasts about an hour and her afternoon is about 2 hours. I have really been noticing lately that she isn't necessarily a great sleeper, but that we have taught her to be one. Left to her own devices she would stay up the whole day, and the whole night. I am just thankful that we found our special miracle sleep book when we did. If not I might be dealing with a totally different sleep situation.

You'd be Neurotic Too

Last week Hadleigh was sick. This is really the first time she has had a fever that wasn't caused by an immunization. Tuesday and Wednesday it was just low grade fevers of 100 or less. It got worse in the evening, but I didn't think much about it. Thursday it jumped to 103 and she had the runs. I felt so bad for her, but it really didn't seem to bother her at all, so I figured she was feeling fine. Friday she had a high temp as well and acted tired, but still fairly normal.

Dave got her out of bed on Saturday morning and noticed that her fever was gone. Yes!!! Great news. The bad news is that she had a rash covering her entire body. Of course it would be on a Saturday. We consulted for a few minutes and then Dave consulted WebMD. Great news...both measles and chicken pox present itself in this way. Fever followed by a nasty rash. Not only that but both are harmful to a "fetus".

So we call our doctor. Here is the thing about that. I chose him because he is a single doc practice. He doesn't even have a nurse, if you call during the week with a problem, he is the one you ask the questions. He switches weekend calls with 3 other docs who are all in single practices as well. So, the idea is that when we call we talk to a doc. No offense nurses, but you will see what I mean here in a minute.

Dave callsed and I don't know exactly what happened, but a nurse from somewhere, we can only guess that it is children's healthcare of Atlanta...great...calls us back. Dave tells her about HC, and the nurse recommends we give her some benadryl. OK...what??? Excuse me, but what the hell is wrong with my baby? Oh, and as a little tidbit of info...since your wife is prego...she shouldn't have contact with the baby, just in case it is chicken pox or the measles.

I am trying to remain calm and yet understand why the benadryl? Dave is trying to reassure me and yet is having doubts of his own. Trying not to be over-neurotic I called one of our good friends who is a pediatric nurse, Angie and leave her a message. I also emailed pics to another friend who is a PA.

After many tears and much anxiety I got a call from Angie and an email from Gwen basically saying the same thing. Roseola. Yesterday Hadleigh's horrible rash was gone, and we didn't need benadryl.

If nothing else, this scare made me a full-fledged believer in the MMR and the chicken pox vaccine. Protect all those babies in the womb.

Miss Hadleigh Claire Goes to the Zoo

She petted the goats with Dada and barked at them because she thought they were dogs.

Yesterday we took Hadleigh to the Atlanta Zoo. She wasn't feeling the greatest, but we thought seeing all the animals would cheer her up. She sat in her stroller and quietly looked at everything, but wasn't really impressed. I think that if we take her when she is feeling better she will enjoy the time more.

Here are some pictures.

You smell like a monkey...

Our ti-ti baby.

Confessions and Creeds

Hadleigh has a low grade fever. The good news is she seems completely fine. The bad news is this keeps me constrained, and it is especially a bummer to be house bound when she seems fine.

So in light of being house bound for a while I am finishing up my book, Presbyterian Creeds by Jack Rogers. I think that I want to move on to a book that will cover some of the confessions that weren't covered in this book, but overall it has been a fascinating read. The book covers the Apostles and Nicene Creeds, and then moves on to the Scots Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Westminster Confession and Catechism, and then it has a couple recent confessions which I think mostly deal with the Presbyterian Church USA.

The fun part is reading about what brought about these confessions and how they were written and approved. Like did you know that the Westminster Confession and Catechism was written to unite all the churches of Great Britain. It was initally accepted and then after a civil war was rejected by the Church of England, and adopted by the Church of Scotland. The very purpose for which it was written never came about. But the Westminster Confession and Catechism came to America with the pilgrims and became the main confession of the church in America. Interesante.

I also love the Heidelberg Catecism. It is so beautiful and personal. After reading about the history of how it was written, I understood even more why it is so personal.

My fav question from the Heidelberg Catechism is the first question.

1 Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own, 1
but belong-
body and soul,
in life and death- 2
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. 3

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, 4
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. 5
He also watches over me in such a way 6
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven: 7
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. 8

Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life 9
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him. 10

1 I Corinthians 6.19-20
2 Romans 14.7-9
3 I Corinthians 3.23; Titus 2.14
4 I Peter 1.18-19; I John 1.7-9,2.2
5 John 8.34-36; Hebrews 2.14-15; I John 3.1-11
6 John 6.39-40; 10.27-30; 2 Thesselonians 3.3; I Peter 1.5
7 Matthew 10-29-31; Luke 21.16-18
8 Romans 8.28
9 Romans 8.15-16; 2 Corinthians 1.21-22; 5.5; Ephesians 1.13-14
10 Romans 8.17

Picnic and Pool

This Mem Day we headed over to John and Brea's. They had put together a last minute BBQ and we were one of the lucky few who had no prior plans. The kiddos were able to play in the duck pool, and stealing watermelon from each other.

We arrived just in time to see John blowing up the pool. It was a bit of a sight. Brennan and Hadleigh enjoyed splashing each other.
Look at that face.

Miss Hadleigh Claire Goes Camping

Dave and I had been trying to decide what to do for Mem Day weekend. We went back and forth with lots of ideas and Dave settled on wanting to go camping. Not just park and camp, but hike away from the car and camp. At first I had several reasons why I did NOT want to do this. I am 19 weeks prego, how are we going to bring milk for HC, etc. He shot down all of my reasons why camping might not be the best idea and we began to gear up to go.

In prep to go I began to look into camping cribs that we could bring along for HC. My good bud Laurence had a suggestion of Phil and Ted's T2 Travel Cot. I looked online and it was perfect...the only problem was that we would have to order online and we didn't have enough time for it to get here. We resigned ourselves to just taking a few extra blankets and making a bed for HC out of the blankets.

Since Dave has Fridays off we drove up to Chattahoochee National Forest on Friday morning and settled on a spot near the Tallulah River head waters. It was so beautiful. We ended up camping within 1/4 mile of the car, but had to hike down an incline and then ford across the river (which was only calf deep) and then walk through poison ivy and stinging nettles to get to the perfect spot.

HC loved every minute of our time. Everything was new and different and exciting. She loved being in the tent and sitting outside on the tarp, playing with butane canisters and matches and baby wipes and citronella candles and bug spray. Her favorite thing was sitting in the river and splashing around, and fishing with Dada.

Our main drama came when it was time for bed. We brought two tents, and I was the idiot who volunteered to sleep in the tent with HC. What was I thinking??? She was so tired I just kept waiting for her to come and laydown beside me on her little bed, but she was WAY too interested in feeling every part of the tent, touching my wet socks, and exclaiming about everything. I finally had to hold her down while she sobbed for 45 minutes and finally fell asleep. Once she was asleep I had my own drama. I couldn't get comfortable and ended up tossing the entire night.

I was able to take a little extra snooze in the morning while Dave took care of HC and felt better and was ready to stay for another night. We took a hike in the morning up the river. Dave fished with HC, and I sat in the sun with my feet in the water...it was so peaceful. After lunch Dave started feeling puny and it looked like a storm was rolling in, so we decided to pack up a bit early and head home.

Overall it was a wonderful trip and I would definitely do it again soon. Next time I will bring a crib for HC and some extra bedding for me.

Memorial Day

Three years ago Memorial Day for us changed in meaning. Before we moved to Germany, Memorial Day was just a day off, a 3 day weekend that welcomed in the summer. Over past Memorial Days I have headed to the beach in Florida, or to the lake in TN, without much thought as to the meaning behind the day.

Once we arrived in Germany and began to experience a little of Army life, Memorial Day took on a whole new meaning. Memorial Day is a day to remember those who have given their lives for my freedom.

It is a difficult choice to remain in the Army. Even for those who make it to Iraq and back there are so many sacrifices that are made by the soldiers and their families. We saw many of these sacrifices first hand as we walked through the deployment of the 92nd MPs to Afghanistan and then the 1st Armored Division to Iraq.

My friend Cindy and I were prego together and our babies were due just days apart. We drove together to a weekend birthing class in Ramstein. Every other person in the class had their husband present. Cindy ended up driving herself to the hospital while she was in labor. Mark was actually on his way to Germany for some R&R, but missed the birth by 24 hours.

One gal I worked with, her father-in-law died while her husband was in Iraq. He was able to make it home for the funeral, but never was able to say goodbye to his dad in person.

One of the first chaplains we had in Baumholder was extended in Iraq and missed his son's college graduation, his commissioning as an officer and his wedding.

This is just part of life for military families. Some women are bitter about their situations, but many of the women that I met understood what life was like in the Army community. They are proud of what their husbands do and make life work at home while they are away. Honestly I think that it is one of the toughest jobs out there.

Going through the last deployment with Baumholder was tough on us. All of a sudden we went from not knowing anyone in Iraq, to knowing a ton of people in Iraq. And we didn't just know the soldiers, we knew their wives and kids. Honestly, I don't think that I have ever prayed every day for anything in my life...but Dave and I prayed every day for those guys. It was actually a really sweet thing for us. We felt that we could take an active role, instead of just watching the news...

One year ago today I received the phone call that I never wanted to receive. We had just returned home from our vacation to Italy, and I was super exhausted after spending 13 hours in the car driving home with Hadleigh who was only 2 months old. It was super late, but when Dave checked the messages on our phone he told me that I had to call Sara right away. I felt sick.

When I got her on the phone she told me that Nic's husband had been killed. Nic wasn't a good friend, in fact I think that we had only spoken to Doug on one occasion. Nic was in my group of friends. We had a rotating girls night that got together once a month and she also attended our Chapel service. Oddly enough there was another connection with Nic. Dave and Nic attended the same high school and Dave's sister Angie and Nic were good friends.

After Doug's death my friend Jess had a dream where she pictured the Lord making wine out of the water from Nic's tears. I think that is a beautiful picture of what the Lord does with our sorrows, one day there will be joy in the morning. And if you are a wine lover, like Nic, having the LOrd make wine out of tears seems pretty awesome.

I am sure that Nic will forget me, but I will never forget her. I will never have another Memorial Day when I don't think and pray for her and her son.

The links above link to eulogies and to an interview with Nic that was aired on NPR.

Poop in the Tub

Dave and I had an insane night on Monday. My car was making a funny noise (turned out to be the compressor), so he was out trying to figure out the problem, while I quickly fed and bathed Hadleigh. We were awaiting a call at 5.30 from our financial planner, so we were all scurrying around. I don't usually give Hadleigh her bath, so I was a little out of practice.

I put her on the toilet, as we normally do, to let her pee. With one hand on her I was turned around trying to do other things with my other hand (like turn on the water in the bath, etc). I turned back toward Hadleigh, asked her if she was finished (like she going to respond), and then proceeded to lift her off the toilet and deposit her in the tub. As I moved I heard a plopping noise from the toilet. When I looked I found that she had pooped. I didn't take any pictures (because I am not Dave), but as soon as I saw it I realized that I had just put her and her dirty poopy butt into the bath tub. NASTY! So, I grabbed her out of the tub and threw her back on the toilet. And then I looked in the tub and noticed another little poop bobbing in the water. CRAP!

Dave walked in and I started yelling for him to grab her on the toilet, while I grabbed the poop and put it in the toilet. In all the commotion I failed to hear the phone ring and we missed our call from the financial dude.

What drama. Dave let the water out of the tub, filled it back up with clean water while I wiped HC's bum. Dave finished the bath.

Make the Pain Go Away

I feel like this might be a quote from a movie, I don't really know, but for some reason Dave and I say this to each other from time to time.

Dave and I have now been back in Atlanta for 7 months. It seems a little hard to believe. And if I am totally honest our transition back here has sucked. I knew that it was going to be hard in some ways, and anyone who has moved away and then come back to the same place will know exactly what I am talking about. You just can't fit back into the same niche as when you left.

I feel that in some ways in coming back to Atlanta I am coming back to a whole different culture. The doctors do the prego thing different here, so I have to re-learn how to be prego in America. Moms are different here and now I have to figure out how to be a mom here in America. People worry about different things, and have different views on the war. Here it is about buying a house, or buying the next house, in Germany buying a house wasn't even an option. There it was about when and where the next trip would be or if we should drive to France for dinner tonight, here leaving the city seems like a major excursion.

I keep reminding myself that I am in transition and soon I won't feel as irritated by things that I perceive are "wrong". I know that my perceptions are heightened by the fact that I am prego and have raging hormones and feel horrible. It has also been heightened by Dave's search for a permanent job. Both of those factors seem to slowly fading away, I am starting to feel better and it looks like Dave's temp job is turning permanent.

I know that I have been a pain and a putz and instead of focusing on the ways that I am similar with other moms or other people, I have been focusing on how I am different. Somehow I feel justified in my differences and I have elevated my differences to be the "right" way, instead of just "a" way.

Dave and I will always be a bit different from what I perceive the norm to be. I mean, why not move to Europe for 3 years? Why not travel to 11 countries before your first baby is 6 months old? Why not let your newborn and 19 month old share a bedroom?

But just because we have made these choices, doesn't mean that folks who make other choices are wrong. I need to offer grace, in the same way that I want grace offered to me. It is just so much easier to hold everyone to my standard...my standard is the best!

You know what is funny, is that there were people that we met in Germany that I made snap judgments about in the beginning...and after a little time they ended up being close friends. It is hard for me to admit my sin, and to see where I have failed in loving people and offering grace. Sinning sucks. I wish I could just be perfect and then I wouldn't have any of these problems!

In spite of all these insane feelings I can see the Lord's provision and providence in every step we have made since returning from Germany. We have never been late on a bill, we have always had enough to make it through the month and sometimes have even had a little to spare. We have a perfect little house, in a perfect area, where I can go to the market and feel like I am in a different country. We have a great church where the gospel is preached. We have found a home at the Abundant Life Fellowship at Intown. Our family is growing. We have had the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and connect with new ones.

If I focus on all the poo, it is hard for me to rejoice with the provisions that have been graciously handed to me from above. I need to remember that here on earth I will never fully belong, no matter where I live, no matter what I do. But one day I will belong, and one day the Lord will make all things new and right. I won't ever sin against another person, and no one will sin against me. Let that day be soon!

Graduation

This past weekend we drove up to Knoxville for Dave's nephew, Jonathan's high school graduation. It was a fun weekend all around. We spent time with Dave's parents on Friday, and on Saturday Hadleigh's favorite Aunt Angie and cousins Joshua and Jacob came over for a visit. The graduation was Saturday evening, so Hadleigh stayed home with a sitter, and we all made our way to the graduation ceremony. After the ceremony we all went out to eat at a Japanese Steak House, which was GREAT!

Sunday we had the opportunity to worship at Redeemer Church of Knoxville which is a wonderful PCA church plant near the UT campus in downtown Knoxville. We attended the Christmas Eve service at Redeemer when we were up in Knoxville for Christmas this past year and really enjoyed the church and especially the pastor, Paul Hahn. It is a particularly liturgical service, which is a bit different from Intown, but the worship is very rich.

On another note, Hadleigh has been learning to feed herself with a spoon and is doing a marvelous job.

Pictures:

Top: Dave and Jonathan

Middle: Dave's parents, Steve and Pauline and Jonathan

Bottom: Dave's sister, Angie and her boys, Josh, Jon and Jacob

Mother's Day

I forgot to post about Mother's Day. This past Sunday was my second official Mother's Day and it was super fabulous. I woke up to hugs from HC and gifts from Dave. He always starts off with the weird gifts...for example, he first gave me two new windshield wipers. Then he mentioned that they were for my new car. I got really angry (I know, most women would not get angry if their husband told them that) and he finally caved and told me that they were for my Buick (big relief). And then I received my real gift, a wonderful letter and an MP3 player. I was super shocked, but it has been super fun to use it, especially in the car. Now I don't have to listen to the crazy Fish radio station...sorry if any of you like that station, but it drives me insane!

After church our good bud Jess came over and Dave cooked us an awesome meal of Japanese style skate and tilapia. Yummy good!

I received lots of fun hugs and kisses from my baby. She was super sweet to me on Sunday. Here is a picture of her new tricks. She clasps her hands together and wiggles them back and forth. I think that she is dancing, and it is super hilarious to watch. She gets a real kick out of it herself.

On a totally separate note, we sang a few songs on Sunday that I noticed were written by Stuart Townend. He is one of my favs, and wrote the hymn How Deep the Father's Love and In Christ Alone and Before the Throne of God. I decided to look him up on the internest yesterday to see when he lived and what his life was like. Imagine that shock I got...dude is still alive! He is a worship leader at a church in England. Crazy! We don't have a lot of contemporary hymnwriters, so I just assumed that he was dead.