He's home!

Whoo hoo! Guess who is home?!! After a snafu with a bus, Hubby arrived via airplane a few hours earlier than expected. This whole time he was gone I kept hoping he'd come home sooner rather than later. I suppose since he arrived 3 hours earlier than I thought he would, technically my wish came through!

We've not really been doing anything exciting. Even the every day mundane is nice! We've just been hanging out, watching TV, seeing movies, eating. Ya know, regular 'ole stuff. We've got a few low key trips planed, but really we are just enjoying being a family. Baby quite easily welcomed Daddy back into our lives. You sorta wonder how it's gonna be with a 2 year old, but she had no trouble at all.

Well, we've made it. This deployment is over. Wow. I wonder what happens next? Nothing would be fine with me!

I wonder

First the pics:

My favorite photo of the chain!!!! Yes, folks, what you are seeing is ONE LINK to a 400 link chain. We pick Hubby up tomorrow!!!! I could write a whole blog about how I feel about it, and maybe I will sometime, but not tonight.

And, Baby. A 4 AM shot from Friday night. The spots actually got a little worse than that before they started getting better. Today they are a million times better, although still noticeable. I took her to church and mumbled something to the worker about "not being alarmed, she's not contagious" before quickly sprinting down the hall.

So, I wonder. I wonder how I "did" this year. Like I almost want a scorecard. Although not really. A year (or more) ago I started praying that this year wouldn't be wasted. That God's purpose in all of this would be fulfilled and that I would find comfort in His perfect plan. And that someone would benefit. And I think at times I held back and let God do his things, but I know at other times I got all worked up about stuff and forgot to ask for God's help. So, I wonder. I had a hard time accepting that God would WANT a family to be split for a year. My little human mind only sees harm from that. How could that be good? But I must defer to the Bible (Romans 8:28, specifically), that all things work for good (paraphrased). Remember, not that all circumstances ARE good, but that God can use them for His good (my interpretation). So, what was the purpose? Did I let God use it in my life and those around me? I guess we don't always (if ever) know.

I'm excited about Hubby's return, and I'm hopeful for all that is to come...for my family just to be a family. Thanks to all who prayed us through this year; we could NOT have done it without you. Of that I am certain. Amen!

Poor Baby!

Yikes! The past 2 days have been outrageous! I was thinking a few days ago about writing something about the terrible twos setting in. Oooh, Baby has had a mean time this week. So bad in fact that her teachers commented about her being particularly challenging. Yeah, tell me about it. I just chalked it up to the typical two year old behavior you hear so much about. Well, it turns out Baby has an ear infection! No wonder. I hate that! I hate that she has been in pain for a week and I just gave her time outs for bad behavior. That's awful! Once she had her first dose of antibiotic this morning she almost instantly became my sweet little girl again.

It all sorta came to a head last night at oh, I dunno...3 or 4 AM. Baby had been up for hours telling me she was uncomfortable and her feet hurt. I did the awesome motherly thing of yelling at her to go back to sleep instead of turning on a light to see what the problem was. Well, her feet had those awful spots all over them and they were swollen! Poor thing! So we went to the doctor first thing this morning and discovered that the spotty virus thing wasn't really much of a problem (per the doc, I dunno, looks like a problem to me), but that the ear infection was.

So, Baby is already in bed for the night, and I was talking to her about sleeping all night. I told her not to call for Mommy unless she felt sick. And she said, "Don't call Mommy, Mommy screams at you." Holy smokes, can I feel a little smaller, please?!

No he's not home, Baby has a freaky spotty virus rash again, the yard is long gone over grown, and Hubby's truck has vile spray painting on the tailgate thanks to local thugs. Grumpy anyone?!

Hubby's ETA is Monday evening...can't come soon enough!

Standing on my head

So, here's sumthin' for ya. If my blog is quiet, it is quite possibly an indicator that things are not just awesome at the moment. Like I'm too tired, sick, anxious, overwhelmed, or just plain blah to write. As was the case last week. Yeah, yeah. I know it started out all rosy with the "good mother" bit, but shall we say that pride goeth before a fall?

It's not like anything so terrible happened, but man, it was a rough week. Baby decided to get a nasty cold, and then she decided to give it to me. The only thing worse than a sick child, is a sick caregiver. With no relief. As luck would have it, tho, I actually DID get some relief. Thanks Grams and Big Ben! A baby free weekend is just what I needed to recuperate. I feel better already. Who knows, maybe we'll have a repeat of the good mothering bit after all.

Now, for a bit of humor. Today I was standing on my head, and then I fell over, and now my body aches. I realize there is a lot in that sentence. Where shall I begin? Perhaps you may like to know WHY I was standing on my head. And it turns out that I'm actually quite good at it (despite the falling over part). So, you may remember that I'm a (new) yoga gal. Yup...ya just bend down, put your head on the ground, rotate back, and...viola! Now you're on your head. I did it once on my own, but got a little shaken up about it (I'm sorta scared of going backward), so I asked a fellow yogi to spot me. I tried, got scared, looked at her and took a deep breath and said, "OK, I won't be scared, you are right there!" Went into the pose with total abandon and trust...AND SHE LET ME ROLL ON THE FLOOR! Crashed down on my shoulder, rolled over my hip, and landed on my foot. So, my body aches a bit. Dude, she really let me down.

This whole standing on my head made me think that I've been standing on my head for a year now. You know...this upside down balancing act I've been doing. And it's only fitting that I crashed earlier, cause that's how I've been feeling lately. Less than 2 weeks to go? 1 and a half? AAAAGGGHHHH. Gotta get outta this headstand soon!

I Am a Good Mother

Most of the time I'm pretty hard on myself and feel that I fall short in this whole mothering business. But today, ah...today...I was a Good Mother!

I played, I pretended, I served healthy meals. I read, I worked puzzles, and stressed not about the mess. We even went out to our local urban oasis for a bit of nature. The intent was to feed the ducks, but they weren't interested. Baby LOVED feeding the birds, though! And chasing them too. And I guess she thought if the food we brought along (bread) was good enough for the birds, it was good enough for her, too.

Just two cute things (for today)...Baby has started giving ME choices! Both at nap and bedtime she held up 2 books and let me choose which one to read first. That made me chuckle. And at dinner...she opened her full mouth and said, "aaahhhhh". Where did she learn that?! Is it just something deep inside the DNA that makes a child do that? I would normally blame that type of behavior on Hubby, but we know that isn't possible. I had to look away not to laugh out loud!

Maggot-fied

Well, so I like to claim that this blog is more than just "oohhh, look at what my cute baby did now," but well, that might not exactly be the case. So, here is what my cute baby is doing!

She got recently got a magnifying glass, and she says, "maggotfied." Now, that's pretty cute, huh? And take a look at the pic. She got all dressed with her glasses and put her purse on and said she was going to work! She probably thinks work is some great play place grown ups get to go to and have all sorts of fun.

Ahh...so today was circus day! Whoo hoo! We both loved it. You may/may not remember that last year the circus lasted all of 20 minutes before Momma made the wise decision to take the fussy girl home. This year was a different story! I think we both enjoyed the animals the best. I really liked the elephants. They looked so soft! Yes, I have seen an elephant up close and know about their skin. But, oh, I dunno, 100/200 yards up and away, they looked soft. And they were really cute. We both also really liked the acrobats. The greatest show on earth, huh? It was quite the show.

So, the circus got me thinking. I remember last year's circus. I was sad. Hubby had just been gone a couple of weeks, and I was wishing he was with us (well, just like always). And this year, well, I'm not quite as sad, and I did wish that Hubby was with us. But he will be soon! 'Bout 2 weeks is what I've been telling folks. I think that's sorta accurate. I'll let ya know when I know!

We had a swell day today, but all was not well right before bedtime. I hate that! Baby got all sassy with me and I had to give her a choice of putting her toys away to get ready for bed and read stories, or fussing and not reading stories. She sassed me and said, "I NOT!" Ah, it was sad. I like reading her stories, but I don't like a sassy little girl. BTW, "I not" is her common sass phrase. "I not" what exactly? She did get over it, but she was really upset about not getting stories. She kept saying, "I put my toys away, I put my toys away" hoping I'd give her a do-over. Not this time. I've found a renewed sense of strength! (I'm not always that tough...it's a lot easier to give in for sure).

Oh, yeah. 2 more things. Baby helped herself to some apple juice today! I know not to turn my back on a toddler, but I was doing something (getting dressed, cleaning the bathroom, checking email, something...who knows what). Next thing I saw was Baby POURING herself some apple juice. And she did a remarkable job. She got a cup (maybe she already had one?) opened the refrigerator, got out the apple juice, opened it, and POURED a full cup. No spills. Amazing. Why isn't she potty trained? She's like an adult, I swear.

And I broke the coffee pot carafe. Blast! Good thing I have a back up coffee filter cone holder...one cup at a time, but good in a pinch.

First Day of School

Well, it's not really the first day of school. I just sorta declared it the first day of school. Since Baby went all summer, it's no big deal to her, but I felt like we needed to mark the occasion. I went back to work on Tuesday, so since she started going to TCS last year on the first Tuesday of August, I figured that would work. See last year's pic? That little bald Baby? Oh, and really the "first" day back was class photo day, so she had her shirt on (the HUGE blue "dress"), and since that wasn't all that cute, I decided to dress her up in a "back to school" outfit and document it again on Wednesday. So, if you're still with me on all this...check out the pony tail! Or the sprout from her head that we call a pony tail. I realize that most little girls start wearing bows and such at about age 2 months, but we waited 2 years. No hair=no hair embellishments in my world. The other pic is Baby with one of her fav teachers.

Other things of note: Baby continues to love ketchup. In fact, twice this week she has had tomatoes dipped in ketchup for dinner. I figure it could be a lot worse. Oh, she also eats ketchup with a spoon, and if she can't get it all with the spoon, she just goes in with her fingers. Seriously? Ew. I've also seen her dip her strawberries and cherries in in. Gross. Whatever. You know, pretty much nearly anything goes around here.

The Biter

First, The Biter, then the pics. So, Baby's had a problem with biting in the past, but I really thought we got past that almost a year ago. Well, it turns out we haven't. I picked her up from school a little later than I have been because I went back to work today (which I suppose I could muse about, but there wasn't really anything that interesting that happened). And she was just having the biggest fit. Turns out she bit a kid! And SHE was the one crying! She is a bit of a drama queen, which I really noticed yesterday for some reason that I now forget. Anyway. She bit the kid because she wanted the car and so did he. And, well, the teachers put her in a time out, but I'm not really sure how well that was working since she seemed to be wandering about. Or maybe it's because she saw me. So, the process goes (after a bite) that the biter goes in time out and then has to apologize. But she was so worked up the apologizing thing wasn't going to happen. Oh, and get this...teachers can't tell me who she chomped. But the kid's mom came to pick him up in the middle of the drama, so I murmured an embarrassed, "I'm sorry" and skulked outta there. I tried to make it a teachable moment...ya know...Baby, did you hurt your friend today? And so on, but do ya really think I got through to her? No, I say. No. At dinner when I asked her what her favorite part of the day was...she said biting! She even said his name, so I woulda known anyway. I hope this doesn't turn into a problem.

OK, now the pics. Since it just rained cats and dogs over the weekend, we had to skip our planned trip to the zoo, so we had pretend zoo at home, which involved dragging out every single stuffed animal and looking at them. It was pretty fun.

And if you've been with me since the beginning, you know about The Chairs. The Chairs. Oh The Chairs, The Chairs, The Chairs! Enough to almost suck the life outta me. Way back over a year ago when this whole The Iraq came to be, I thought I would have "all this time" to complete projects. Sorta like how I thought I would paint the kitchen and our guest room during my maternity leave. Anywho. I digress. I have these antique (read "old" not so much "nice") chairs that I thought would look better if I recovered and stripped and refinished. A FULL YEAR AND ONE MONTH LATER they actually do look better. Not super great, but they do look better. I can now have a dinner party for 6. Thanks for the help, Mom!