NOW do you see it?

This is Harper (wearing MY old dress):




And this is me (not exactly a recent pic):




I'd say that aside from the lack of hair that Harper has right now, she looks a bit like her mommy, wouldn't you?

Three Years Old

Colin was acting his age again tonight while Jamey was VERY focused on the all important task of racing his wii car.

Colin said, "Daddy.... Daddy... Daddy.. Daddy!"

Jamey turned off his game.

Colin had nothing really to say.

So, I reminded Jamey that Colin wouldn't be this age forever.

That's when Colin chimed in, "I am. I actually am. I LOVE this age! I'm going to be this age when I grow up."

How can you resist a hug from this kid after a statement like that?!

Our First "Sticking" Snow

It snowed again last night. While it didn't snow very much, it DID stick a little this time. It was enough to make Colin's first snowman! Don't let the picture fool you. This snowman is HUGE! It's nearly FIVE INCHES TALL!!

Okay, so maybe it's not huge, but it's bigger than what we'd have had in Jacksonville!

Here are pics from last night:



The snowman:



And what was left this morning:




As promised, I have some Christmas pictures coming, but I spent all night getting our external hard drive set up and uploading pictures of cloth diapers to sell.

Things I Learned

I'll post pictures of Christmas later, but I wanted to go ahead and post with some of the things I learned.

1.) It's very hard for my son to say "Jeremy". He got the wooden Thomas Airport with Jeremy the Jet Plane and he continues to call him "Germany the Jet Plane." In fact, at one point yesterday, Colin asked Jamey where Germany was. Jamey quickly responded, "It's in Europe." before realizing what Colin was REALLY asking.

2.) If you give a grown-up a toy, it will be a childlike Christmas all over again! Jamey had a "Wii Christmas". He got the soft sports kit that attaches to the controller with a golf club, tennis racket and baseball bat. He also got a racing game and the little racing steering wheel that connects to the controller. And, neatest of all, he got a Star Wars light saber duel game and the light sabers that attach to the controller. He played with ALL of it yesterday! Colin had a blast watching him but was a little too scared to play himself. I got some pictures of Jamey with the light saber. I'll post those later.

3.) I actually CAN cook! Everything went perfectly! Even the dressing, which had been my biggest worry, turned out to be absolutely delicious! Whew!

4.) It takes several hours to put together the k-nex ball machine. I was on step 71 (of 172) last night at 11pm when Colin (who was STILL awake) informed me that I'd need to finish it before going to bed. Sigh. I did not. I'll have to finish it today. The good news is that I LOVE putting this stuff together. I put together his lego racing set yesterday and this is JUST my cup of tea. I guess it's the math mind in me.

5.) Harper can be quite the little princess. She wanted to be held ALL DAY yesterday and was not afraid to express her displeasure whenever we put her down. It was ridiculous. I woke up early to cook,then fed Harper, then set up things in the living room (making sure that Colin's cookies for Santa had been attacked), then fed Harper, then we did our Christmas present thing. Then I fed Harper. Then I started putting together the k-nex ball machine. Then I fed Harper. Then I fixed the Macaroni and Cheese and Corn Casserole and put those in the oven. Then I fed Harper. Then I put the dressing and green bean casserole in the oven. Then I fed Harper. Then I got the china, crystal and flatware ready and set the table for us to eat. I started eating, then fed Harper and then finished eating. Then, I cleaned up. Then, I fed Harper. I won't bore you with the rest of the details. Let's just say that I was on my feet for half the day and feeding Harper for the other half! I've heard there's a big growth spurt around 4 months. I guess we can safely say she's hit it.

Anyway, we had a WONDERFUL Christmas and I hope you did too.

"The Mommy Movie" and a Harper Update

First, we had Harper's follow up appointment yesterday. The more time has gone by, the more angry I've gotten at the doctor we saw last week. There are MANY signs that a baby is getting enough to eat. Harper is meeting ALL of them. This doctor was confusing her low weight with inadequate weight gain without comparing her weight to previous weights. She's tracking on the SAME curve she's been on since she was born according to the WHO chart for breastfed babies.

So, today I went prepared. I took a copy of something I got from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the WHO chart.

Thankfully, I didn't need either. We saw a different doctor today who told me exactly what I'd been thinking. One weight isn't important. It's the overall pattern they look for. And while Harper's "pattern" is to stay around the 5th percentile, she's still following a pattern. The doctor today said that she's pleased with Harper's weight gain and that I should be encouraged. She also appreciated that I was proactive with my growth chart and said that I should keep it up!

So, Harper's fine. She's just little.

Jamey took Colin to see Despereaux (sp?) today. They had a really fun time. On the way home, they stopped at Blockbuster to pick up a movie. Colin came in the house and announced that they'd gotten "a mommy movie!" It took me a little while to figure out that it was the latest Mummy movie. I should have known, though. He always calls them mommies!

Tell Me Your Stories!! (and Colin ruined my retirement fund)

So, this is my first year actually cooking Christmas Dinner. I think I may be pushing myself a bit much, but I don't care. I plan to cook all our favorites.

Anyway, to help me feel more confident, please share with me the story of YOUR first attempt at cooking Christmas dinner. What did you make? Did it turn out as you'd hoped?


Now... you must be wondering how Colin ruined my retirement fund. It's simple, really. He took off the tags!

No, not the mattress tags... or the hair dryer tag.

He took the tags off my Beanie Babies!!

Ok, so maybe they weren't quite as valuable as they were SUPPOSED to be. I was SUPPOSED to be able to sell them for hundreds one day. Yeah, I drank the Kool-aid.

I guess this is just one example of how your perspective on things changes when you have kids. Suddenly, tags all over the floor don't bother you at all if it means your little one has something of yours to play with and it puts a smile on his face.

As long as he doesn't draw a mustache on our autographed picture of Bear Bryant...

Cinco... No, Cinco... No, Cinco.... Si, Cuatro

I was once told by many women that garage sales are not worth your time. These women clearly never lived fifteen minutes away from Juarez!

But let me start at the beginning.

We had set everything up for our garage sale starting at 10am today. At 6:45am, our doorbell rang. Our lights were off. The alarm had just gone off. Harper and Colin were still sleeping. Let's just not answer it. Ding dong. It rang again. There's NO stuff outside our house. The only evidence of a garage sale today are the signs we placed down the street with our address (which also clearly stated the time). We're definitely not answering. Ding dong. Ok, we're answering.

At the door were two women who spoke hardly any English.

This was the first sign that our morning would be interesting.

We had sold nearly everything that would sell by 9am. We made almost $400 before our garage sale was officially supposed to start.

I know VERY little Spanish, but what I know was definitely put to the test today. And they certainly got a kick out of me stumbling my way through!!

Apparently, there are a bunch of people who come to El Paso from Mexico specifically for the yard sales! Sometimes they are getting things for themselves. Other times, they're looking for things they can sell in Mexico. We met a pastor who tries to find things to sell to help his ministry. He was incredibly nice and comes around the neighborhood a lot doing random jobs to earn a living.

At one moment, Jamey grabbed me and pointed. One of the women had picked Harper up right out of her seat and was holding her and bouncing with her because she was crying. THE BABY IS NOT FOR SALE!!

The morning was full of broken English, broken Spanish and MANY hand gestures (and thank God for the kids who knew a little more English than their parents)! But we feel that it was worth our time for sure.

We do still have some things to get rid of, but hopefully craigslist will help get rid of the rest.

And now we have right at $400 that we didn't have before!

A Few Pictures

Today's our anniversary and Jamey might be home from work by 8pm. With his hours this week, we've hardly seen each other. I've been getting ready for a garage sale tomorrow (talk about effort!) and it's been everything I could do to make sure the downstairs stayed nice and clean when he got home every evening. I THINK we're ready now.

Anyway, I thought I'd post some pics I just haven't had time to post yet.

First, I JUST finished knitting my first project... a hat for Harper. I think it turned out really cute, but it's a bit small and I don't think she'll be able to wear it for long. Anyway, I'm proud of it. I feel like I accomplished something.

Here's a pic:




And now, a couple of pictures of our view here in El Paso. First, the view from our loft window upstairs. Second, the view from our driveway. It really is pretty out here, but it's DEFINITELY windy. Wind speeds have reached tropical depression levels! Hopefully it's not too windy tomorrow or all our stuff will blow away before anyone has a chance to buy it!!

Anyway, here are the pics. Enjoy and have a great day!

For Those Who Were Wondering...

Jamey has gotten "established" in his new unit and is doing well. He is a platoon leader, which is GREAT. We didn't think he'd have the chance to be a PL since he'll be pinning Captain so soon, but being a PL is a big thing in the "life" of a Leiutenant, so we're glad he has a chance to do this.
His unit will be heading to the National Training Center at the beginning of the year. This is pre-deployment "practice". They'll be deploying to Iraq in the spring.
I haven't really met anyone yet, other than neighbors, so I'm really hoping to meet some of the wives soon.

As far as Harper goes, we're making a BIT of progress. I was able to get her to drink almost an ounce of formula last night. It took half an hour and she squirmed and cried the whole time, but it is progress. Hopefully, the progress will continue!

Quick Harper Update

I spoke with the nurse on call today about the fact that Harper refuses formula. She said given the fact that she only weighs ten pounds, it's extremely important that we get extra food in her. So, she suggested something she said they normally would NOT recommend. She said to put a little Karo syrup in her formula to sweeten it up. She said it's not something to do on a regular basis, but for this week when we need her to take the formula, it might help. I'll try it this evening and let you all know how it goes.

And now I need to ask for prayers for me. It's SOOO hard when your little one isn't doing how they should be medically. It's especially hard when it seems like a failure on your part. I'm starting to get frustrated with myself. I mean, I couldn't get pregnant like most people. I couldn't STAY pregnant like most people. I couldn't DELIVER smoothly like most people. And now I can't FEED my baby successfully. Seriously, I used to picture myself with 5 kids (at least) and I've had a huge mess of a problem being able to get these two here and healthy.

Please pray that this extra bottle of formula does the trick and I don't have to completely switch over.

Harper, The House and a Whole Bunch of Questions!

Well, I'm coming first today with a request for prayers for Harper. Apparently, she's not growing like she should be. At four months, she weighs ten pounds. That means she's dropped off the growth chart. In order to be at the 5th percentile (meaning she weighs at least as much as five percent of babies her age), she'd have needed to be 11 pounds. She SHOULD have been closer to 13 pounds. The doctor we saw yesterday wants me to supplement with a bottle of formula every night this week and bring her back next Monday. She wants to see her AT LEAST back on the chart by then. So, I tried this last night. SHE WON'T TAKE IT!! She turns her head, pulls back, gags, spits it out, etc. I even tried putting it in a medicine dropper and blowing on her face to trick her into swallowing! In the meantime, I'm working on building up my supply and I'll feed her on a schedule this week instead of just on demand (since apparently she's not demanding enough). Please pray that we're able to get her to take the formula bottle and that things will straighten out soon!!

On to some more fun news. I have some pics of the house! They aren't the best and they're only of the downstairs (we haven't QUITE unpacked the upstairs... slowly but surely), but you can at least get an idea of what our house looks like!

First, here's the kitchen. It's my least favorite room in the house. We don't have a lot of space. I'd like more cabinet space and countertop space, but we DO have a built in microwave (that's amazing) and a dishwasher and a garbage disposal, so I'm certainly thankful for those things. As you can see, we still have a little clutter that we're dealing with in this room (and GOOD GRIEF would you look at all those magnets on the fridge!!) but it's coming together.




Next, we have the stairs. I'm not sure why I took a picture of the stairs, but I did. I guess this is my way of giving you a taste of the upstairs.




Now, on to the bedroom! We got new furniture here, so the pictures are mostly focused on that. The quilt on the bed was made for us by Linda Widdowson as a wedding gift. It's absolutely beautiful! We also have quilts from her for each of our kids. She is amazing.




This is our living room. I'm also putting a close up of our silly-looking tree. Colin helped decorate by literally THROWING ornaments up toward the top of the tree. He also picked out our star. Jamey hates the star! I think it adds character because Colin picked it out and he LOVES it. The trouble is that the star is so big and heavy, it causes the top of the tree to lean over a bit. Again, character.




I took a picture of the outside of our house last night. It was dark, so I had to "auto fix" the picture and it turned out a bit grainy, but you can get the idea.




So, that's our house.

I wanted to close today's blog post with a FEW of the items Colin asked about YESTERDAY. I decided to keep track of one day's worth of questions/queries from him and I didn't even come close to writing them all down. In the first few hours of yesterday, Colin wanted me to tell him about:
sand spurs
babies
alligators
ghosts
Santa Claus
Thunderbolts

When Alice was in Wonderland and made the comment, "Curiouser and curiouser...", she definitely summed up my son!

Next Weekend!

It's almost here... our five year anniversary. I just found some pics on my computer today from our wedding, so I thought I'd share a few. I'll probably post a few more over the next several days until our anniversary on Friday.

First, we have the wedding cake. I saw this cake in a magazine and just HAD to have it. So, we went around from bakery to bakery to ask if they could do it. Our third try told us that she definitely could do it and gave us a quote much less than a Publix wedding cake! I was SOOOO excited. As time got closer, I gave her a list of words to use and I thought it turned out beautifully!




Next, we have the AMAZING limo! I've had two dream cars for as long as I can remember: a VW bus and a hummer. Jamey gave me one of them for at least a few hours!




Here is a picture of me in the HUGELY oversized Ruth Lindsay auditorium.




I was so glad that we have some pictures with Mrs. Lindsay. She'll always be a person I use as an example of what I want to be.




When we first got engaged, we asked Rev. Carr to perform the ceremony. He agreed and we were excited to have him (as well as most of his kids) be a part of our wedding. Unfortunately, something happened and the ski trip had to be scheduled the week of our wedding and Rev. Carr had to cancel. We weren't sure who to ask next but we thought we'd try and see if Dr. Vines would be willing to step in. We were so excited when he said yes!!




Of course there are several things I'd like to go back and change about our wedding, but I think we have some pretty special things to remember!

A Christmas Wish

No comments necessary.

Life in El Paso

Well, we're here in El Paso. We've been here a little while but I'm finally able to get online and post! We ended up having to stay in a hotel for about a WEEK after arriving because our household goods couldn't be delivered until this past Friday. The hotel stays were really tough because not only were we travelling with a three year old and a baby, but we also had two REALLY ANNOYING miniature dachshunds tagging along for the ride (where did they come from again?) and we had to find dog-friendly hotels. Then, we were in a different hotel pretty much every night for the first several days, so that meant we had to take all of our stuff, a boy, a baby and two dogs in and out every night and morning. AUGH!
And there were two times that I had to do this myself!! Try lugging a luggage rack with everything needed for a baby and little boy PLUS two dogs on leashes PLUS a stroller with a crying baby who just wants to be held (really, mom, is that too much to ask?) and a kid who wants to hold the dogs and ride on the luggage dolly thing while simultaneously being held (again, is that too much to ask?)... let me just say, it was CRAZY!!

Anyway, we got to our new house and I absolutely LOVE it!! I'll post pics soon but the only pics I have right now are the "in progress" pics with boxes everywhere and I'd really like some pics now that we have the house SOMEWHAT in order. But, of course, my camera batteries died! I bought some more yesterday but they didn't work. So, now I'm trying to charge up some batteries so that I can get some new pics.

Unpacking has also been crazy. I have a baby whose feeding schedule has been completely blown apart due to the time change and all the driving (and she WAS sleeping through the night), so I'm working around her wonky schedule (which is sometimes feeding EVERY HOUR!) and trying to control my son! His latest source of joy has been chasing or harrassing our dogs. He thinks it's hilarious to watch them tottle around on their tiny little legs. I was walking into our bedroom the other day and saw Frankie running out. I turned the corner to see my wonderful, compassionate son with a yellow plastic baseball bat up above his head running after the dog with a look of pure glee on his face.

The bat was confiscated.

I put it in "time out" on the mantle over the fireplace (yes, we have a fireplace!!) only to hear a few hours from Colin that "the bat's time out is over" just in time for me to look over and see him balancing on two packing boxes at the fireplace reaching up to grab the bat. This sense of adventure and complete lack of reason MUST have come from his Daddy.

Anyway, I now have the computer set up and am finishing the unpacking process upstairs (yes, we have stairs... another source of joy for Colin... sigh). I'll hopefully have some pictures up soon.

El Paso is really neat. I think we're going to like it here a lot. We have a view of the mountains from our house, but they're unlike any mountains I'd ever seen before... there are no TREES! Seriously, aren't all mountains supposed to have trees? They have cactus (cactii?) and yucci plants (is that how to spell them?) and LOTS of rocks, but no trees. It's like a whole other country out here! And given that we're only minutes from Mexico, it makes sense. Although, Jamey will never let me forget the time I listed Mexico as a state (really, I was THINKING Texas!!), so I'm not sure it counts.

There's not much more news except stuff with Jamey's job (exciting stuff that I'll post later when I make sure I get the details right with him) and the fact that it snowed yesterday. It was SOOOOO pretty! It looked like a Christmas card! And speaking of snow at Christmas, my son has gotten it into his head that they are interchangeable... snow means Christmas and you can't have one without the other. So, he announced this morning that it wasn't Christmas anymore because it stopped snowing. I really hope we have a white Christmas or things will just not make sense to him! How did a little Florida boy get this idea?!

Ok... that's REALLY it for now. Post again later!

I'd really LOVE to hear from you all!! I have a new email address, so take note: TeamElphaba@live.com

Hope to hear from you (someone? Anyone?) soon!! (I'm not homesick at all)

Like Mother Like Daughter

You may need to turn up the volume, but it's worth it.

Harper

And like most Saturdays this time of year, there's college football on the tv!

How Colin Views Things

It's interesting to see how little ones view the world sometimes. For instance, Colin has a pretty simplistic view:
1.) Everything is about him.
2.) His mommy knows everything.
3.) God made everything.

And, of course, I have stories to illustrate all three!

We just got back from a week in Townsend, TN. We love it up there. We went to a store for the park (GSM) and Colin saw the donations box. He's been fascinated lately with putting money in boxes like this (or fountains... even if they're just on display in a store... but that's another story). Anyway, he pointed and said something about the money box. I couldn't hear him, so I asked if he wanted to put some money in the box. He said very plainly, "No. I want to get some money OUT of the box." If only wealth were that simple (of course, it seems that loan companies, car companies and some cities think it is).

As we were unpacking, Colin pulled out a bug kit that he got in the mountains. One of the bugs is a beetle. He asked his daddy what it was. Jamey told him that it was a beetle. He said, "No. It's not. I'll ask mommy what it is." So, he asked me. I also told him it was a beetle. Apparently, that was good enough for him because he looked at his daddy and very emphatically stated that it was a beetle.

And finally, as I was putting together Harper's pack n play, Colin asked me why a part looked like it did. I said, "Because that's the way they made it." He quickly responded (as though he knows the secret to the universe), "No. God made it. Jesus didn't make it. God made it. God used to help make jets and he made the Blue Angels." At least he knows the source!

Well, we're back home in Columbus now and we have about TEN DAYS before we move. That's it! Yikes!

We called this week to find out about housing on post. Let me clarify. We called AGAIN. They never returned our calls from earlier. Anyway, housing on post is full for Jamey's pay grade, so we have to find housing off post without getting a chance to see it yet.

We think we've found just the right house, so please pray that it all works out!

Subtle Differences

My son notices the differences between things. For example, the other day he was playing with his cars. He said, "I'm going to show you how cars smash!" Then, before I could say no, he crashed two cars together. I quickly responded with, "Colin, you know you are NOT supposed to crash your cars!" and he responded just as quickly with, "No! This is a crash!" Then, he crashed them again. His follow up comment was, "I showed you two different things... smash... crash!" And, of course, being his mother's son, he used his hands appropriately to demonstrate the differences.

Everything is a Race!

This morning is just ONE example of how fascinated with racing Colin can sometimes be. He was hiding from me when I realized he needed to blow his nose. The only way I could get him to the tissue box? "Let's race!"

We have to race to the tissues, race to the potty, race to get his jammies at night, and on and on and on.

But this morning, he threw a little something extra into our discussion of racing. After he blew his nose, I complimented him on such a good job! His response? "That was one FAST racing snot!!"

North of the Border

Well, I will soon be going west. We'll be PCSing to Ft. Bliss in El Paso, TX! We're excited about the change, but things will certainly be crazy. It looks like we'll be moving between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so our lives will certainly be hectic!

I'll post more later. Harper is wanting to stay permanently connected to her feeding source right now.

The New Scratch

Last night, Colin was throwing something up the stairs and knocked down my parents' wreath. In the process, he must have gotten a scratch on his shoulder because it popped up around the same time.

Colin, however, has another explanation. Every time we've asked him about the scratch, he offers the same story... and what a story it is!

Apparently, there was a roach that knocked down a long bug. While the long bug was falling, it "reached out its arm" and scratched poor Colin on its way down.

So take care, friends. These scratching bugs could be anywhere!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Colin Milner!

We FINALLY made it to the pumpkin patch and Colin had such a great time!

Here he was when we first got to the pumpkin patch. He was so amazed at all the pumpkins!!




And here he is choosing a potential pumpkin (we later decided against this one):




It's SOOOOO heavy!!



Uh oh! Our "little pumpkin" is almost asleep!




And she's out!




Colin had such a great time looking at all the pumpkins.




And he finally picked just the right one!




Or maybe two!




And here are the finished works!

Jamey's Legs

I'll post more about Jamey's experience later, but I'm trying to get on the road! Heading to Jax for a visit!!

This is just SOME of the beatings his body takes in various Army training courses:



This particular injury is from a training exercise where they had to drop into the water from a pretty high place.

What A Big Girl!!

Harper had her two month check up today and her pediatrician was VERY impressed at her progress! He said that she's holding her head up very well for someone her age and is already advanced. That's pretty good for a premie!!

And, she's up to a WHOPPING 8.5 pounds! Hard to think that there are a lot of babies who are BORN at this weight!

I got a parent lecture from the nurse who did Harper's weight check. Colin usually eats breakfast around 9:30 or 10:00 (he sleeps late) and this morning, I had to get him up at 7:00! So, since Harper's appt was at 8:00, I decided to take Colin to Starbucks after her appointment for his FAVORITE milk and breakfast item. He was SOOO excited. But, when Harper was getting weighed, Colin said he was hungry. The nurse asked me if I'd fed him yet today and then went on a tirade about how I should always pack snacks and drinks for him. If you've ever been anywhere with me, you know that I always have a juice box and munchies, but today was different because of the Starbucks plan. Anyway, she wouldn't drop it and I couldn't get a word in edgewise, so I just let her spew. Some women should learn to keep their mouths shut.

The other nurse in the room kept asking me about Harper's cloth diapers. She was very interested, so that made up for the rudeness of the weight checker. Any time I can talk to someone about how great cloth tushes are, I get excited!

It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown!

I was just watching this with Colin (again) and he is SOOOO upset that he can't do the spin on the floor. He wants me to teach him.

Ahhhh, they think their moms can do anything at this age!

Here's the dance he'd VERY much like to imitate:

Colinisms

Apparently, I am no longer "Mommy". Colin has decided to start calling me "Mom". He even corrects himself! I have heard, "Hey, Mommy,... oops, I mean Mom."

And he's taken to insisting that I sing songs for pretty much every toy he has. If he's playing with his cars from Disney's Cars, he insists that I either sing Life Is a Highway or Real Gone. If he's playing with random toys and feels like dancing, he insists that I sing Flashbeagle from "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown!" If he's playing football, I'm supposed to sing "the football song", which is his name for the introduction to Monday Night Football. And the latest, is the "hot rod song".

He was just playing with two little toy cars and had them set up to race. He asked me to do my arms to start the race (I guess we've been watching Pinks too much) and then he wanted me to sing "the hot rod song". I asked him what it was and he told me that "It's called Fight the Good Might." I seriously have NO IDEA which song he has in his mind for this. I told him that I just don't know it and his response was, "I already TOLD you! It's called Fight the Good Might! I'm losing patience with you!!"

Wow, this kid is something else!

What Is He Up To?

Here's a description of what Jamey is doing THIS WEEK. It involves:

Ranger Physical Fitness Test requiring 49 push-ups, 59 sit-ups, an individual 5-mile release run event finished in 40 minutes or less, concluding with the execution of six chin-ups.

Combat Water Survival Assessment at Victory Pond

land navigation test

Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP) training

individual 12 mile foot march

the “Darby Mile” run event, a 1.63 mile terrain run with the Malvesti obstacle course negotiated afterwards

additionally, the student executes demolitions training and airborne refresher training

Airborne Soldiers will exit from a high performance aircraft and conduct tactical assembly area procedures.

I'm guessing that now you can see why they say that if you make it through RAP week, you should be able to get your ranger tab. That's why this week is SO important. There are TONS of people who don't make it through this first week.

A "Sirius" Problem

My husband did something wonderful for me before he left. He ordered me a Sirius satellite radio! He knew I liked his, so he got one for me. We recently had to replace his antenna, and we figured if we could do that easily enough, I should be able to install the radio.

Not quite.

There is WAY more to this installation than just the satellite antenna! Since I don't know how to go INTO the car dash to connect the radio to a power source, that means it must always be plugged into my car's cigarette lighter. This means that there is a cord that must go from my radio to the lighter in my dash. Not to mention, that lighter would always be occupied, so I wouldn't be able to charge my phone or ipod unless I turn off my Sirius the whole time it's charging.

Then, there's the aesthetics. Since I'm not a professional, I can't exactly mount the radio to my car the way it's drilled and mounted in Jamey's. This leaves me two options. First, I can choose the car vent option. This means the radio sticks in the car vent and one cord goes from the radio in my car vent down to the cigarette lighter while another cord goes from the radio in my car vent outside my car to the satellite antenna. The other option I have is the windshield mount via suction cup. Again, I'd have one cord going to my cigarette lighter and another one going to the outside antenna.

Then, on top of all that, since I can't do the physical connection to my car's radio the way it's connected in Jamey's car, I'd have to do the FM antenna. This is like the little FM transmitters that people use for their ipods. Another cord would connect my Sirius radio to an FM antenna. The signals from my radio would then be sent via FM to a station on my car radio.

The installation here just seems too tricky for me. Plus, I'm not a fan of all these cords going everywhere in my car! I think I'm just going to have to get it professionally installed. Maybe I'll ask for the installation for my birthday. Or, maybe I'll just go ahead and do it and SAY it's for my birthday, since Jamey won't actually BE here on my birthday (yep, he's missing my big twenty-ten).

I'm SUPER happy that he thought about ordering this for me before he left. It was SO sweet! And I was really excited when I got it in the mail today.

But, it's just not going to happen like we thought. Bummer.

On the bright side, Colin had his first experience with bubble wrap! Pure joys!

Here We Go Again

In the last ten days, Colin has thrown up four times. We're talking major projectile vomiting again. I don't know if I should try and get him squeezed in to the doctor here before we leave or if I should just keep an eye on him and see how he does over the next two weeks. I really hope it's just a virus and we're not back into the vomiting stage again.

On a funnier note, I just saw him drop something in Tuck's aquarium and asked him if he put something in Tuck's bowl. He grinned and shook his head no. I looked at him and asked him to tell the truth. His answer? "It was just trash. Tuck likes trash." Sigh.

And now, for the stupid moment of the day. I was at Walmart (I guess THAT explains the "stupid" part) to try and find some church pants for Colin. I didn't think it was too much to ask to just find a pair of khakis SOMEWHERE but I've been checking Walmart and Target for months now and can never find any. Well, today at Walmart, they had a pair! They even had Colin's size!! I was SUPER happy and just pulled them out here at home to try them on DS.
That's when I noticed the knee patches.
These are BOY pants in the BOY section.
Why would they do this to the patches?! They MUST have put them in the wrong section.
GRR!!! STUPID!!

Random Colin Bits

We went to Publix yesterday afternoon, and while we were there, Colin announced that when we got home, Daddy would be waiting. I told him that it would be a long time before Daddy came home because Daddy is at Ranger School.
Then, when we got home and were about to walk in the house, Colin noticed that Jamey's car was sitting in our carport. He got SOOO excited and started shouting, "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" I kept trying to quietly tell him that wasn't the case, but as soon as I opened the door, he went running through the house looking for Jamey. It BROKE MY HEART! How in the WORLD is this kid going to handle a deployment?

It wasn't too long before he had recovered from his disappointment and was back to making me crack up laughing with his comments. For example, he is NOT Harper's "big brother". He is Harper's "manager". I am NOT his "mommy", I am "coach".

The strangest comment he made, though, was last night while we were watching one of his movies. He announced (out of the blue), "When kids get trapped in holes with snakes, we have to go to the football game... to the Alabama football stadium basement, and get a pooper scooper. Then, we will get the kids out of the holes!"

Seriously... no clue where THAT came from!

'Twas the Night Before Daddy Left

Last night, we got some real reactions from Harper. Jamey was holding her and when I walked up, she looked at me and broke into a huge smile. She has smiled before, but it's always been random... never in reaction to seeing me. Then, she looked at Jamey and smiled again.

So, we started tickling her and got a major smile-fest.

That's when Jamey changed the expression. He stuck his tongue out at Harper and she stuck hers out right back. It went back and forth and I grabbed the camera. I think this pic is priceless... one of my favorites so far!

Oh, No!

Just thought I'd do a quick post about Colin. I've been trying to teach him about cleaning up after himself, so tonight when he finished dinner, I asked him to put his plate and fork in the sink. I listened as he walked into the kitchen and then I heard a klunk. I thought he'd completed the task.

That's when I heard him yell... "Oh, no!! I put it in the wrong place!"

At first, I thought he meant that he'd put it in the wrong side of the sink, so I tried to clarify.

He responded, "No. I put it in the trash can!"

At least he told me before I emptied the trash!

Hodge Podge

Tomorrow is the day. It's the day we've been looking forward to and almost dreading at the same time. Jamey reports tomorrow at mid-day for Ranger School. Next week will be VERY intense! We could really use your prayers during this week. It starts with his RPFT (Ranger Physical Fitness Test) on Monday. He's passed all three of his practice RPFTs and has improved a lot, but he's still a bit nervous. Tuesday will be Land Nav. If he passes Land Nav on Tuesday, he won't have to do it Wednesday. If he can't pass on Tuesday, he'll get another chance on Wednesday. Sometime during the week, he'll also have his combatives... also known as "get the taser from the other guy before he uses it on you". Thursday is the twelve mile ruck march. If he passes each requirement for the week, he'll continue on. Most "recycles" happen in this first week. They say that if you can get through this week, you'll get your tab. Jamey's goal is to make it straight through Ranger (not common) the first time, so doing well in this first week is imperative. It will get him on a good start for the rest of the course! He's been feeling a bit of a cold coming on, so please pray that God keeps him strong and healthy so that he can accomplish his goals here.

I finally got a picture of Harper's blanket. I think it turned out really cute! I don't have a picture of Colin's bag, but it turned out okay... not great, but he likes it.
Here's the blanket. Colin says that it says, "Please, Alabama, win!"



And I have a picture of my new hair color. It's sort of a mix between a very dark blonde and a very light brown. I like it. It's not the best picture, but you can get an idea.



Well, that's it for now... off to help Jamey pack!

Our New Cat

No, no, no... we don't have a cat. I draw the line at cats. I am definitely NOT a cat person. This is something I have in common with my dad's dad. Granddaddy is well known for his hatred of cats. I think it's been passed down a couple of generations!

But we do have a neighborhood cat that has really taken to Colin. I don't know why since his version of playing with the cat involves picking the cat up and carrying it with him everywhere. But, this afternoon, the cat was in the very back corner of our backyard and saw Colin and came right up to him for playtime.

Sigh.

Of course, Colin brought the cat INSIDE the house (augh!) and we spent a good bit of time trying to intice the cat out from under my hope chest, where it was hiding from Frankie and Lola (yay, dogs)!

We finally got the cat out of the house.

My next dialogue with Colin went something like this:

Colin: Maybe someday we can get a cat.
Me: Maybe.
Colin: We can take Frankie and Lola to Petsmart and put them in a cage.
Me: Oh, really?
Colin: Yes, and then we can get a cat... TWO cats!
Me: Yeah?
Colin: Yep. We can get a brown cat and a black cat. And one will look like Frankie and one will look like Lola.
Me: Oh, really?
Colin: Yeah! And we can call them Frankie Cat and Lola Cat!

He certainly has it all planned out! I wonder how Frankie and Lola feel, knowing they're so easily replaced.

Well, *I* See It!

Ok... maybe no one else sees it, but I do. Maybe everyone else thinks she looks just like Colin or her daddy, but I see some of me in her as well. I've HAD the kid who has NONE of me in him and ALL of his Daddy. Certainly I should be allowed to see some of ME in THIS ONE!
Harper:









Me:




So, maybe you don't see it. But at least I do!

Hi, my name is Erin...

... and I'm a fabric store addict.

I just can't stop!! I found a pattern for the type of dress I've always pictured my little girl wearing. Jamey and I saw a little girl in one over a year ago and he pointed it out to me and said that if we ever have a daughter, she'd need dresses like that. So, I got so excited when I saw the pattern at Hancock! This, of course, meant I needed more fabric... and some cute buttons. And, when I walked in the store, I saw tons of Alabama fleece, including a pink fleece pattern. I just HAD to get it to make Harper a little blanket. And then I needed a plain pink fleece for the back of the blanket. And, pink ribbon would be perfect as an accent!

Then, I realized that Colin might be feeling a little left out with me always at my Bernina making things for Harper. But, I can't exactly sew HIM little dresses!

So, I asked him if he'd like for me to make him a toy bag... something that he could throw some toys in for outings (yes, mom, he's already started stuffing his pockets with cars). He loved that idea, so he went with me to Hancock today. He picked out two fabrics (one Nascar fabric and one Dale Earnhardt Jr. fabric), so I'm going to make a reversable tote. I came up with the bright idea of having the tote handle button on so that it can be "reversed" as well. So of course Colin needed to pick out buttons. And what goes better with racing than soccer and football buttons? According to Colin, it's a perfect match!

I finished Harper's Alabama blanket tonight but can't post a picture because my camera batteries died. Here's the fleece I used though:


I'll post pics of the blanket and Colin's tote (assuming it turns out as I've planned) as soon as I get batteries for my camera!

Oh, We're Having a Swingin' Time!

I have a problem. My daughter is not exactly like my son. Shocking, huh?

Why is that a problem? We got her a vibrating bouncy seat. Colin LOVED his and it was the only way to keep him settled sometimes while I cleaned. Unfortunately, it does NOT have the same effect on Harper.

I had begun to think she might be more of a swing girl, because she likes it when I swing her in my arms, but today confirmed it.

I put her in the bouncy seat to try and clean a bit. She began crying hysterically.

Then, I finally got her to calm down!! How, you ask?

I picked up the bouncy seat with her in it and swung it back and forth.

Sigh.

Dress for Success

I figured since Colin will be dressed up for the Alabama game (he'll most likely wear his jersey and hat), Harper needed something.

Unfortunately, the only things we've found in her size were way too overpriced.

So, I decided to make her something.

Alabama fans are big on houndstooth (in memory of Bear... the greatest man to ever coach football), so I tried to find some of that.

Unfortunately, this is Auburn country, so anything bama-related is hard to find.

But, I did find a black and white gingham.

So, I made do with what I had.

Here's how it turned out:

Harper's New Dress and Headband


And here's a close up of the headband I made to go along with it (sorry, dad!):

Harper's Headband


I'm pretty pleased. I got enough material for two of these dresses in gingham, two in a cute argyle and two in a cute floral. I also got thread and ribbons for all. My total was about as much as it would cost to buy ONE Alabama onesie. Not bad.

Roll Tide!!

We're heading to another Alabama game this weekend! I'm so excited. Hopefully this will extend Bama's winning streak and not END it!
Colin has been playing a lot of football and always makes sure to tell everyone that, "Alabama is my favorite team!" and "Auburn is the team we don't like."

He will also tell you that the Gators are the bad team.

I'm trying to find some houndstooth material to make Harper a dress (Colin already has a hat, a jersey, shakers and tattoos). I ordered her a crimson colored diaper and I'm hoping it will be here in time!

Thanks, Laura!

Laura's blog is amazing and I keep getting more and more ideas from her! The latest is my new background. Now, all I need to do is hire a professional photographer and get a gorgeous black and white pic of me and Jamey looking adorably in love!

My sneaky son!!

Colin was playing with his nascars this morning and had them all lined up for a race. I was cleaning up and he asked me NOT to pick up his nascars. I told him I wouldn't.

Then, a few minutes later, he asked if he could play with his soft football. I told him he couldn't play with his football until his nascars were picked up.

Not long after that, he asked again. I looked at the floor where his nascars were and they were gone. So, I asked Colin if he'd put away his nascars.

He pointed to the pile of Harper's cloth diapers that I'm getting ready to put away. He said, "I hid them in there so that I can play with my football."

At least he's honest!

Colin Mine

You always wonder if your kids will remember special times from their childhood. Well, I think there's one thing Colin will remember... Baby Mine. It's the song Dumbo's mother sang to him. The first line is "Baby mine, don't you cry."
I sang it to him while I was still pregnant with him and it was part of our nightly bedtime routine when he was a baby. Lately, whenever Harper has been crying, Colin has encouraged me to sing "Baby mine you don't have to cry" (as he calls it) to help her settle down.
Tonight, he came to me with his face crumpled up trying to force out a tear and said, "I'm going to start crying. You'd better sing Colin mine you don't have to cry."

He's gotten very excited about me putting his name into songs lately. His absolute favorite song right now is "Flash Colin", originally "Flash Beagle" from It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown. It was a song on a cassette tape that I had when I was a little girl.

He STILL talks about his Charlie Brown costume from last Halloween. In fact, he considered being Charlie Brown again this year, but has ultimately decided that he wants to be Mickey Mouse. Unfortunately, the Mickey Mouse costume at the Disney Store is incredibly ridiculous looking. There's no way I'd let him look that silly. So, once again, I'm making one. I got his black turtleneck today, but still need red shorts, white gloves and Mickey ears. I'm going to TRY to find HIS Mickey ears, but I'm afraid that they might be in a box in the back of our storage unit. If you see red shorts for sale somewhere, please let me know!

Here are some more pics of Colin taking care of his baby sister. On our way to the doctor today, he told me he was going to cover up her heel so that no one could hurt her (the billirubin test consists of a heel prick and several minutes where they let the blood drip into a vial until they have enough).

He just LOVES her!!








And here's a bonus pic of Harper (well, part of her) in a cloth diaper I made for her:

Harper's doing well!

We had an appointment today to follow up on Harper's billirubin level (2 weeks ago, it was 12). Today, it was 8! She's also making "adequate weight gain" and now weighs just over 7lb 11oz. This means, it took her six weeks to catch up to Colin's birth weight!

I managed to catch a few more "smiles" on camera last night. When I showed the pictures to Jamey, his jaw literally dropped. I think he's been assuming I was making it up and pretending to see smiles. Now I have REAL proof!

Here's my happy girl! You have to ignore the clutter in the background. I'm selling all my maternity clothes, so they're all in piles with priority mail envelopes and boxes!!

My First Diaper Cover!

I have actually started making some things for Harper. The Bernina is working pretty well so far. I'm really enjoying myself!!

One of the "big" things in the cloth diaper community right now is fleece (the other is wool). People are crazy about fleece diaper covers because they are so soft! It's amazing how effective fleece is too.

My favorite type of fleece cover is a "skirty". It's a little pull on diaper cover with a skirt attached.

So, of course, this HAD to be the first thing I tried.

I was pretty successful (well, the first one I made was a bit too small), but there are a few things I want to change before I make another one.

Here's how it turned out.

My First Fleece: