Remember the time I was attacked by a raccoon?`

It seems to be the case that the higher you climb the military ranks, the more your job becomes about counselling and facilitating than anything else. Last night Austin didn't get home until 2 am because of some issues that one of his soldiers is facing. So, after William was in bed I was on a mission to have a highly productive evening. Peaches steamed, dishes cleaned, counters wiped, bottles made...time for lunches. I got out the protein bars, rice krispie treats, made some chicken salad sandwiches, and threw in a peach for each of us. The last thing our lunches needed was chips. So, I wandered over to the door to go out to the garage where our chips are kept and went to get some.

All of a sudden a raccoon the size of Reagan jumped out from under my trailblazer, flung its body off of the wall of my garage and attacked my face! I wrestled him to the ground, beating on him as hard as I could as he dug his ravenous claws into my poor cheeks and neck. I finally released his death grip and sent him scurrying into the dark night.

Ok, that didn't really happen. I opened the door to the garage, saw a creature the size of Reagan scurry out and once I realized it wasn't Reagan, and after the previous scenario had played out in my head, I slammed the door and ran around the kitchen in a frenzy as if I had just been attacked by the pesky rodent. I called Austin to tell him we had an emergency at home, but he was hardly frightened. He told me to close the garage door (which I had accidentally left open) and when he got home and opened the garage he'd scare anything away if any rodents were left.

YEAH RIGHT.

You mean go BACK in the line of fire? open the door again to a potentially looming raccoon whose wrath I narrowly escaped moments earlier? No Thanks!

We got off the phone and for a few minutes I was adamant that I was NOT opening that door. Then I realized that I better go ahead and get practice in bravery now because what if this raccoon comes to meet me again same time next year?

So, I bravely sauntered over to the door. Jiggled the handle about 20 times so as to send the message that I am coming and I mean business. I cracked the door open enough to see that there were no critters within 10 feet of the door, cracked it a little more to reach my hand in, pushed the button to close the garage door, and quickly slammed the back door. Generally we don't lock this door, but I thought better of that last night. Never know how smart a raccoon may become in a moment of desperation!

There you have it. I faced my fear. I stood up to that pesky old coon. And I won people.

**Reagan lost, as this morning I noticed a gaping hole in the cat food bag. Note to self: buy a tub for cat food similar to the tub for dog food. Second note: don't ever leave the garage door open.

Development Week

Last week was development week here at Western Union. Stimulus money hard at work. Next time you see that pesky federal income tax line taking all of your paycheck, remember that I am thanking you as it taught me all of what I'm about to write. Overall, it was a pretty good week. I was frustrated with our "encouragement" to spend 10 hours of the week in development classes, while I still had 40+ hours of work at my desk, but the classes were good and its nice to have a break sometimes. The two classes I enjoyed most were Emergenetics and The Stress Profiler.

Emergenetics is a personality profile that depicts your thinking and behavioral traits. It breaks your thinking attributes into 4 categories (analytical, structural, social, and conceptual) then it weighs each attribute based on how heavily your thinking style utilizes each trait. I am 29% analytical, 40% structural, 28% social and 2% conceptual. I'm sure you're falling out of your chair in shock that I am most heavily weighted in the structural category, as was I. The second portion of the personality profile depicted how expressive, assertive, and flexible you are. I am a fence sitter for expressiveness and flexibility, but very assertive. The teacher jokingly said, "When 2 people in the top third for assertiveness get together, everyone senses it and that's when all the people from the bottom third disappear". I mentally noted that in high school when Philip and I got into it, most of our friends quickly dispersed. It's all making sense. It was an interesting class and the 2page description of me based on my profile was spot on. Don't you hate when those seemingly meaningless quizzes actually peg you right on? Ahh I want to be unpredictable one day!

The stress profiler class was not what I expected it to be, but it was interesting. We took a quiz before hand which told us our stress level and I am "a little on edge". Again, no shock here. This quiz was broken into 10 categories and each one was scored, then added together to get a combined total. One of the categories was "control". The instructor asked, "Anyone in here have to be in control?" I raised my hand so she asked me to explain. I don't really think there is an explanation - I need to be in control. What else is there? Do what I say and no one gets hurt? My way or the highway? I'm right, you're wrong? As true as they all are, those just sound too mean to say out loud. I can think them, for sure. :) She said, "well, did you score high in that category?" I said, "No, actually I scored very, very low. The questions were all about things I already have control over. Do I wander around my house in search of my keys? No, because they're always on the key hook. Is my closet a disaster? not in a million years. Is my car constantly filled with junk? A stroller, an emergency diaper bag, reusable grocery bags, and a toy or two for my baby. My score was low because I already have control of all of the areas it mentioned. Its the nimwits I work with that are the problem" Whoops, shouldn't have said that out loud! :) Overall it was pretty fun, though I didn't learn anything new. I mean I already knew I felt an extreme amount of stress due to lack of time, already knew I had poor stress outlets yet high stress resilience. I wanted the class to just fix it all! :)

One area that none of the classes touched on, though, was how to be a chameleon. Adapt to change. Go with the flow. I suppose Emergenetics kind of did - its the 2% conceptual side of me :) And I guess this is when my fence-sitting flexibility slides over into the "not flexible" side of things.

I can handle a lot and I can take a lot of punches. But I don't adapt to change very well. It really doesn't matter what is changing; if I have something set in my head and it changes in any way for any reason I get frustrated. Which may be why Austin is now mad at me.

He sent me a text message earlier to let me know that his training schedule has changed. Instead of starting at the end of October, he starts Nov 29. Instead of spending 2 weeks in Colorado Springs in January he will be there the entire month, but he will come home every day. Instead of going to Fort Benning, Georgia the week of William's birthday he leaves Feb 18. And instead of leaving Denver Feb 28 for Iraq, he leaves from Georgia.

So if you think about it, the only real drawback to the changes is that he leaves me 10 days earlier. The rest of it is pretty inconsequential. But, it made my blood boil. Why? Because I already had it all planned. What does that matter? It just does. Because I'm structural and I'd already etched it into the stone tablet calendar in my brain. Can. Not. Erase. I don't bend that way.

Please don't take this opportunity to remind me that whether I bend that way or not, the U.S. Army never was one for asking opinions or preferences and that I, therefore, better learn to bend. I better jump to the other side of the flexible boat. Please don't tell me that. Just sit there and nod, and think "oh she'll show them! that stupid army, they don't know what's coming"

Please don't ask me what they've got coming either, though, because I'm as baffled as the army is. I'll probably just sit here and pout, while working diligently to smooth out my stone tablet calendar and etch in the new dates. I'll probably whine and gripe and think about how unfair it is that rather than having 2 weeks of him staying in Colorado Springs overnight I now have a month of him coming home at 7:00...because the first one is...better? No, not really. Not better. Just planned. Expected. Known.

As a result of said frustration, I have now been inexcusably stubborn and mean throughout the rest of our texting conversation. That's right, US Army, I'm gonna stick it to the man. May be the wrong man, but by golly I'm gonna get him!

So, while you're sitting there nodding and smiling, not interjecting the obvious points I asked you to leave out, you could send some kind thoughts/vibes/words Austin's way. Because as the tides will inevitably change over and over from now until Feb 18, he will probably bear the brunt of it. Comes with the territory of marrying someone who is both structural and aggressive when your job is demanding and ever-changing. Whoops.

I have a sister!

I know that by posting my ode-to-the-birthday-girl 2 days before her birthday, I am actually going against my concept of celebrating the person's life on their birthday. BUT - I am not good at blogging on the weekends, so why not start said celebration early? Then I'll let it go into the weekend :)

Growing up, on Christmas I often asked Santa or my mom if I could have a little sister for Christmas. My brothers were a handful so that ruined my opportunity, though. Thanks a lot! So, I was stuck being the baby. The only girl. The spoiled one. Poor, poor me.

The thing is, though, I had a sister all along and just didn't realize it.

I love babies. I've always loved babies. I don't know a time in my life where I would have turned down the opportunity to spend an evening with babies for anything. So when my mom's best friend had babies and the adults came up with the brilliant plan to leave the new babies in my care I was ecstatic! (sometimes Brian and/or Brandon were there too) A night alone with babies - life couldn't get better than that.

Years passed and it still made every bit of sense to the parents if all of the kids were left together. I was a pretty responsible kid, despite how YOUNG I was (I can't imagine leaving William with someone as young as I was!) so the kids were in good care, and we always had a blast. My favorite time to babysit them was on New Years Eve. My parents were married on New Years Eve, and they liked to go out to celebrate (the holiday too I'm sure) so every year for a sequence of years my parents went out and I babysat. We ran outside at midnight banging pots and pans, had bobbing for apples contests, and other games that I'm sure weren't the most responsible but were loads of fun. Probably the most fun New Years Eve's I've ever had!

As the kids grew up, my babysitting services weren't needed as much. But once the kids were in junior high, I was asked to stay with them on weekends for certain occasions to cart them to and front school and activities. It was in these weekend visits when our relationships started to change and morph into what they are now. At some point on these weekends they went from being my mom's friend's kids to my friends. And since that time, that friendship has grown so deep and I've realized that there was much more there all along. Maizeanne and Robert are more like my siblings than anything else. I told MissJan a few weeks ago that I struggle with how to refer to her kids. Are they my mom's friend's kids? Are they my friend's kids? Are they my friends? Or are they my siblings? Because we rarely have family functions without them being there, and I can't imagine not being a part of the major points in their lives. They aren't blood, but they are more like my family than plenty of people I do share blood with.

Thanks to Maizeanne I found a love for (and learned all the songs to) Veggie Tales, Barney, and other kids cartoons that William will most likely grow to like. I learned to sing an invaluable song called Sleepy Baby (all rights belong to MissJan) and I can now lull William to sleep with the endless song when needed. And thanks to Maizeanne I have lots of fun memories of good times on the lake, in the pool, at Black Eyed Pea, getting pedicures, walking around Target, and a soon-to-come trip to the Melting Pot. I asked Maizeanne to read scriptures at my wedding because she is such a strong woman of Faith and I admire that in her so much. She is a wonderful person, a sweet friend, and I'm so glad to know that all those times I asked Santa for a sister he granted my request. Happy 21st birthday Maize - have a blast. Can't wait to see you come graduation weekend! :)

Dreeaaaamm (dream, dream, dreaam, dreeeaaaam)

can you hear me singing? Dream, Dream, Dreeaam, Dreeeaaaaammm.

It is pretty common knowledge that I dream a lot. Not only do I dream a lot, but I remember my dreams in great detail. Sometimes they can be disturbing, sometimes upsetting, and sometimes just plain funny. Never before, though, have I questioned whether or not people can actually use dreams to speak to others.

Until last night.

I won't go into a lot of detail because I don't know my reading audience, but there are some details I can share. I dreamt that I was in Dallas spending time with my grandmother, Mimi, as she was on her death bed. This is the same Mimi that you read about on June 20 with the empty candy jar, so obviously she is not with us anymore. But in my dream, she was back in the state that she was in June. The things she told me, though, were very telling and I can hear her saying those things in real-life.

The main thing she kept telling me is that, no matter what ever happens, she hopes I know how much she values the relationship that she and I had. She also told me multiple times, once even "coming back" after having not taken a breath for awhile, not to cry for her. I think Mimi would very much say that. When I moved to Colorado in 2006 I saw her a week before I moved and I cried when I said bye. She had to stop her quivering lip from giving in to her crying, but she held her composure and she kept insisting that I not cry. She said "You're going to be in a great place, don't cry for what you're leaving". So I can hear her saying the same thing to me now.

A lot of times when I dream about my dad I wake up feeling emptiness, loneliness, and longing for him to be around. I would have expected after having the dream about Mimi that I would feel the same way, but I woke up this morning feeling good. I will always count Mimi as one of the richest blessings in my life, and my dream last night tells me that she felt the same. I don't think I believe that people can come back to speak to you after they've passed - I could be wrong, but I've never been of that belief. I do think, though, that I had that dream at this exact time for a purpose - and I think the purpose must have been to bring my mind into a certain focus.

Mission Accomplished. In my head sometimes I still think Mimi is sitting in her chair watching David Letterman every night. She still has the volume cranked up for the entire neighborhood to hear, with her oxygen tank inches from her cigarette, and the telephone within reach. So I know I haven't completely wrapped my head around my loss, but wherever she is I do know that she loves me very, very much.

A Boy after His Mommy's Heart

I forgot quite possibly the best part of William's week!

I went to pick him up on Friday and Miss Jennifer said "William was LOVING cleaning up today. He kept grabbing the toys off the floor and putting them back on the shelf. At one point we couldn't figure out where his bottle had gone, only to find out he had put it on the shelf too!

Ahh, my baby loves me.

William Wednesday

Well, I'd have to say this has been one of William's rougher weeks. Not nearly as fun to write about because I don't like when he's struggling, but what else can I do? I can't lie about how fabulous his week was - cause, well, maybe I could...

I won't though.

Austin, Miss Kim and I have all come to the conclusion that he must be teething. It is that time (a little later than others, earlier than some, but overall around the "right" time) Saturday, Sunday and Monday he was fussy, fussy, fussy. He wasn't crying, but he wasn't happy and there was no way to console him. Monday he just cried himself to sleep, then kept fussing even after he was asleep. Last night we tried baby orajel which seemed to help a lot.

We aren't sure if this is related to teething or not, but he hasn't been drinking his bottles as well either. Yesterday was the first day when he finished all of his bottles at school, but I had been making them each 2 ounces less than normal too. So he still isn't back up to his old eating ways. He does eat his solid food really well still, so it is something about the bottle. Kim thinks the warm formula might feel bad against his tender gums.

Or, it could all be related to the cold he has. He has a little cough and runny nose, and whenever he wakes up there is goop ALL OVER his eye balls. I am the mean, mean mommy who picks it all out and makes him hate me...but it hurts me to see all that stuff covering his pretty blue eyes! It is getting better which is good; I think it peaked on Sunday.

So, with all of that going on he just hasn't been the happiest baby in the world for the last week. He was VERY happy, though, when we switched his car seat out on Sunday and gave him the next size up. According to the regulations for his old car seat he still had 2 more pounds and 2 more inches, but he was miserable in that thing. We put the new one in the living room and sat him in it - he was so happy! And now when I take him out to the car he smiles as he gets in his car seat, stretches out and lounges for the ride. No more cramped up baby!

Along with his new car seat, we found something else that he likes this weekend: light shows! We went bowling on Saturday with Austin's company and it was "cosmic" bowling for the 2 hours we were there. Seemed weird to me that cosmic bowling was in the middle of the day, but William wasn't going to complain. He loves watching all of the lights moving around. He was actually disappointed when the light show ended!

He's getting better at his crawl/scoot. He still crawls for a few paces, then drops to his belly and scoots, then gets back up to crawling, then scooting - and he can get where he needs to go. I used to be able to lay his quilt out on the floor for him to play with and not worry about him swallowing a pound of pet hair, but now the quilt ends up in a ball, in his mouth, as he rolls freely around the living room dragging it along. I feel like we already vacuum constantly, but I guess constantly isn't enough now because his face is in that carpet all the time and it grosses me out.

I can't remember what the food-update was last week, but I don't think we'd tried zucchini yet. Had we? Well, in any case, he loves it! Zucchini and peaches are his favorite. I made green beans this weekend but I'm afraid to try them...they look, smell, and feel (texture-speaking) just like the peas and I don't know if I want them in my face just yet. I bought some pears from a fruit stand last weekend that weren't quite ripe, but they are now so I think I'll make those tonight. A friend also gave me some squash out of her garden so I may steam some of that up tonight too. And of course, I got him more peaches!

This week at school is "spirit" week so William is wearing a green shirt today...it's favorite color day. Did you not know his favorite color is green? Or, did you know his favorite sports team is the Texans? That was evident yesterday as he wore his Texans outfit all day. Monday was PJ day, and it was a good thing I took a spare pair because he blew up in the first pair early in the day...that little boy can poop. Tomorrow is wild hair day, and Friday is favorite t-shirt day. Spirit day was clearly designed for the parents, as I'm having a blast :)

He seemed a little bit better this morning, less eye goop and more smiles, so we're hopeful that whatever is going on is lessening up...or that the baby orajel is just that good. So, be hopeful with me that next Wednesday has more upbeat news...maybe news of a first tooth!

August 24

In high school my friend Philip used to call me Rain Woman. I don't remember the movie Rain Man all that well, but I know that the main character, who has a mental disability, obsessively remembers numbers. Philip made the connection because I can remember phone numbers of friends I had in elementary school, birthdays of pretty much anyone I was friends with or "dated", and can remember lots of other insignificant dates that I just can't shake from my memory log. He used to really enjoy when I'd say, "Today is the anniversary of the day I broke up with my 8th grade boyfriend". Really? Why do I remember these things? There is one exception to my number brain: I can't remember the difference in the 28th and 29th. I know a lot of people who have birthdays on one of those 2 dates, and every time their birthday comes up I look it up about 5 times to make sure I have it right. I don't know why, but those numbers are my enemies. So, if your birthday is on one of those two days please have patience with me. It doesn't matter how many years I've told myself which day is right, I still have to look it up to be sure. My mind plays evil tricks.

But one date that is not an exception to my Rain Woman identity is August 24. That's Austin's birthday! If you remember back to our dating story, you know that I broke up with him around Valentines day in 8th grade. Shortly after that I changed churches, so I didn't see Austin for probably 4-5 months. But, when August 24 came around I picked up the phone and dialed 281-859-5836 to wish him a happy 16th birthday (yep, that's his old phone number. ohhhh. yeah.) I called him every year after that on his birthday because even though we didn't talk much, and he may never have thought of me between his birthdays as the years passed, I always thought about him on August 24.

I LOVE celebrating his birthday. He isn't one for much gloating or attention or spot light on a normal basis, but he can't argue if I make a big deal out of his birthday. But, when I'm offering chicken fried steak, lasagna, enchiladas, tres leches cake, blue bell ice cream, and fun little gifts for a week how could he argue? He had his chicken fried steak on Sunday (quite possibly the best I've ever made actually), tonight is lasagna, and later this week is enchiladas. He won't get home until probably 8 tonight so I don't think we'll have blue bell, but that will be coming for sure. He got Family Guy Season 8 (definitely a gift of love as it is torture for me to watch), a new CD, and a Mario Williams Texans jersey. I'm not good at keeping gifts once I have them, so he already got all of those things. oops :)

Like I mentioned before, celebrating someone's birthday is like celebrating their life - and there isn't a life that I'm more thankful for than his. So for me, this one is the biggest celebration of all. Happy Birthday/Week/Month Austin - love you :)

I'm Athletic?

I mentioned a little bit ago that I'm trying to find a balance between all of my priorities, one of them being physical fitness. The easiest way I've found to fit that in is to utilize the wonderful benefit Western Union offers - free fitness classes! We're not sure how long they'll be around, but currently the contract is through the end of 2010. There is a local gym nearby that sends trainers over to teach 4-1hour classes per day. It takes slightly more than a lunch break, but it is so very worth it. The classes are awesome!

I have been trying to go a minimum of 3 times per week. I'd love to go every day, but some days I have errands to run or am too busy at work or just want to get out and see the light of day. But the classes are fantastic. They require me to push myself far more than I would if I were working out alone and we target muscles that I would never know how to target alone. Yesterday I planned on taking the Core Fitness class which is my typical Thursday class. It is from 12:30-1:30 though and I had a 1:00 meeting. So, Dottie and I decided to take the 11:30 Bosu Cardio class...and I am glad we did! I hadn't ever worked out with a Bosu ball before and the class was really challenging. At one point we were doing tricep extensions while laying on the Bosu ball and the instructor, who also owns the gym, came by and said "you have great form". Me? Yippee! I didn't know a bigger compliment was looming on the horizon though...

We all moved our Bosu balls to the walls and were doing vertical mountain climbers. She came by and suggested I move my ball farther from the wall saying, "You are very athletic so you could challenge your muscles more by taking your arms off the wall. Being farther away will help you maintain balance better without the help your hands"

I AM VERY ATHLETIC? Since when? I don't think I've ever been called athletic in my life. If I was, it was in elementary school...definitely not since then. What a compliment! Now, I realize it may have all been a ploy to trick me into thinking I'm super athletic and, therefore, encourage me to challenge myself more. Which I did. So whether it was a true compliment or a ploy I don't think I can complain because I still got a better workout because of it. So its a win-win!

I love sports, but I have never been much of a sports-partaker as much as I was just a sport fan. I played volleyball in junior high but I was mediocre at best and our team was awful. I did play soccer in elementary school and loved that - although I loved being the goalie. If you don't know much about soccer, the goalie is the person who moves around the least. I was good at it...only got scored on twice in 3 seasons...but I never did much running. So my athletic experience beyond stationary soccer and crappy volleyball is marching band...

yep, not an athlete.

I have had higher physical health goals in the last 2 years than I've ever had though, so I probably am more "athletic" than ever before. I wasn't ever one who obsessed about exercise, diet, physical appearance, etc. The previous statement would probably be why in college I wore jeans, faded t-shirts and flip flops every day while gaining far more than the freshman 15. But the more I workout and the more I notice the extensive benefits of being physically healthy, the more I find I enjoy it. And sometimes it does border obsession. I think its hard to be committed to that hard of work if you aren't obsessed, though. I still love cookies, biscuits and gravy, and all forms of bread...but I definitely pay more attention to when I eat them and what quantities. That along with my efforts to be a hot-mama by working out has brought me to a point where a personal trainer actually used the word athletic to describe me...I think I'm on my way to reaching my goals!

And, on that note of health and wellness, I need to go to Saltgrass Steakhouse now for a Tax Department lunch(which means no butts-and-guts class for me today!). Then I have to work for a few more hours before Austin and I go indulge in the Melting Pot for his birthday. Hmm, guess I'm not being so health conscious today huh? :) Happy Friday!

Crash Course on William

I am pretty busy at work this week so I don't have a lot of free blogging time. Ugh, if only my boss understood priorities in life. But, she doesn't. Therefore this may be the shortest William Wednesday post ever...sorry to disappoint. It shouldn't be AS big of a disappointment, though, as it was Monday morning when a few people tried to access my blog to find it was MIA. What a heart attack that caused! (more like 3 heart attacks for my most avid readers) So the silver lining here is that you won't fall on the floor in panic. You're welcome.

William's week in a nutshell:

HE CRAWLED TWO "SCOOTS" YESTERDAY. After his 2 little crawl "steps" I think decided scooting was faster, but he officially can crawl.

He does NOT like peas. Not at all. I have had them spit in my face, slowly run down his chin, and completely hurled onto my pants in the middle of the cafeteria at the strong bonds retreat. Ok William, I GOT IT.

He LOVES peaches. With as much passion as he hates peas. Can you blame him?

He loves to blow spit bubbles back and forth with me. He's getting pretty good at it, but really only likes it when I'm playing along. So I oblige.

Still the strongest kid in school. Well, not the entire SCHOOL, but his class anyway. Yesterday he crawled over to the bookshelf and pulled all of the tubs down, dumping the toys on the floor. Apparently these tubs are rather heavy, but I've never picked one up so I don't know. This morning I dropped him off at 7:00 (I HATED him being the first one in school!) and he went straight for the buckets. New hobby I suppose...uh oh.

Higher altitude affects his gas as much as it does Austin's and Brandon's. Made for a fun weekend in the mountains :)

Because he can now move around in his sleep, when sleeping in bed with us we are both constantly conscious to be sure not to let him kick us off the bed. Literally.

Still loves him some Nancy Cat.

Last but certainly not least, he can now ride in the shopping cart without his car seat! Maybe he could have before, I don't know. I just never tried it :) His expression here is awesome - he was pretty marveled at this new vantage point on Target.

I think that about sums up his week. So sorry that this wasn't long, drawn out, wordy, and more time consuming...I know you were probably looking for a little bit more of a break from work/daily tasks. Will do better next time I promise. (can't promise, though, if next time will be anytime before next Wednesday...)

Oh what the heck, how about a few more pictures?

Strong Bonds

This past weekend Austin and I went to a marriage retreat in Estes Park. The army puts on this retreat, called Strong Bonds, 4 times a year and it is held at the YMCA of the Rockies. If you google it you can find some pictures - it is gorgeous. Although the retreat was great, it would have been pretty awesome to just sit outside all weekend and stare at the beauty. Not to mention the weather was perfect! I took lots of pictures but, as usual, they are stuck on my camera still - itching to be shared. I will write a follow-up post later this week just of pictures, I promise.

Austin was supposed to have the entire day off from work, but because he was so busy last week (or for the last 6 months) he said he had to go in for a few hours. I was slightly irritated when I got off work, got William, stopped at a coworker's house to drop something off, and made it home before he ever got off - but he did make it home in time to get the truck packed, drop Layla off, and hit the road by 2:00. So, I guess I didn't have much room to complain.

We've been to Estes Park quite a few times; it is one of my favorite places in Colorado. It is nestled on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park so wildlife can often be spotted roaming through people's yards and through town, and it offers all the small tourist town charm that you could hope for. (I think I also told you last year on our anniversary trip that they have BLUE BELL ICE CREAM which we, again, indulged in twice) We hadn't ever gone this far through and out of town though, and it was just beautiful. The resort was in a little valley so there were peaks all around and I was in my own little heaven. I think it'd be a wonderful place to have a family vacation or reunion (be on the lookout for an email, Ford Family) because there were SO many options for activities. crafts, horseback riding, fishing, disc golf, putt-putt golf, real golf, sand volleyball, bike rides, hiking trails - if its an outdoor activity, they have it. I loved it!

We weren't there for the activities though, we were there to build a stronger marriage. And that we did. No marriage is without room for improvement, and you always hear that the marriages which start strong and later fizzle are the marriages in which the partners failed to continue working at it. So, when we were presented with the opportunity to spend a weekend learning more about each other and the bond of marriage we thought "why not?" We had a session Friday night, 2 on Saturday morning, a break to spend with each other in the afternoon, a session Friday late afternoon, and one Sunday morning. The meals were all paid for and in the time we weren't in classes we could wander down into downtown Estes, eat at the cafeteria, or do whatever we wanted. (no TV though - they were removed from our rooms)

Friday's session was the most productive for us. It was a class on the 5 love languages. If you haven't heard of it, you should google it just to learn more. I won't go into FULL detail because it is an entire book - and I'm not so good at short summaries. But, the basic skeleton of it is that there are 5 basic ways in which we all receive/interpret love the best. The 5 options are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, Physical Touch. I would have sworn Austin's was Acts of Service because that is the way in which he shows his love the most, and I would have guessed mine would have been Quality Time. I was wrong though!

My love language is words of affirmation and his is quality time. This brought new light to recent conversations we've had. Last week I told Austin that I was disappointed in how little I felt appreciated for my support of his deployment. I told him that I wasn't really sure what I expected as a "thank you" (well, diamond earrings are a given but beyond that...) but that I just felt like my role was completely overlooked. Not just by him, but by people in his unit and by people in general. I realize that he carries a much greater burden and is laying much more on the line, but I feel like sometimes people forget the sacrifice of the families. I know we don't do it for "thank you" or acknowledgement - blah blah blah - but its still nice to hear. He felt bad that I had felt unappreciated and said that he must just assume that I know he appreciates my support but that he'll try to do better at letting me know. Then when we learned my love language, it made more sense to both of us.

On the same note, we learned more by knowing his love language too. Oftentimes he will suggest that we go play golf on the weekends, and generally I say no. I say no because golf is about a 4.5-5 hour game, plus transportation and getting ready so it could take up to 6 hours! I struggle with spending 6 hours on anything because my mind constantly thinks about the things that I should be doing. I should be doing laundry, going grocery shopping, cleaning the house, etc. I always assumed Austin was suggesting it because he just felt like golfing, so I would give him the green light to go ahead and go. I never understood why, in those instances, he didn't end up going. Then this weekend he said that when he suggests that we go together it isn't just because he wants to golf, its because he wants to together. I explained my side a bit, so we agreed that if there's stuff to do at home but he wants to spend time together golfing that we go for 9 holes instead of 18.

Overall, the retreat was good. We had a good time, refreshed ourselves on somethings we already knew and learned a few new things. Plus I met the spouse of one of the guys Austin will deploy with, so that is probably a good thing too. She was very nice. Right now her husband works shift work like Austin used to, so he doesn't have a lot of free time, but once training starts he suggested we spend some time together so she and I can get to know each other a little bit better. Marriage fuel and a potential new friend? I'd say the weekend was a success.

The Hidden Miracle

As you are already aware, I have volunteered to be the Team Captain for Western Union's Light the Night team. The HR representative who leads the Wired for Fun (social committee) team asked me if I would attend their monthly meeting and speak a little bit about the walk. I'm not big on speaking in front of strangers. I know I've said I'm a talker, and that is generally true, but standing in front of a crowd of people I don't know is not my most talkative venue.

Standing up and speaking in front of 35 extroverts whom I've never met, all waiting for the speaking to be over in order to throw a surprise baby shower for one of the team members, is definitely not my most talkative platform. The good thing about extroverts, though, is that they tend to be very welcoming and excited to meet new people so it wasn't so bad. The talk went well and I think I recruited some more walkers!

On my way down to the meeting I was trying to think of what I would say about the walk, and I had a realization. I knew the HR rep wanted me to talk a little about the walk and a little about my motivation to be the team captain, so I was trying to think of what details to include about my motivation. I ran through the idea of saying "my dad passed away nearly 13 years ago..." when it hit me: this coming February 2 is the one I've been dreading for years. The first was hard, and I knew the 10th would be hard (something about that even number 10). But the one I always dreaded was 13. Why? Because that year would mark the point in my life when I had officially lived just as long without my dad as I did with, and I always felt like from that point forward I'd have less of a connection. As I started dreading the upcoming anniversary all the more, I then remembered the miracle of William's birth. I already knew the blessing that it was, but this was a piece of the blessing that I hadn't realized before. I wouldn't need to dread this 13th anniversary because I have William's first birthday to celebrate.

It's true that with every closed door there's an opened window.

With that being said, I think its time I start thinking about his first birthday party. After all, I don't even have 6 months left to plan it! :) I won't make a HUGE ordeal of it and spend oogles of money (or so I think right now) but it will be a celebration to remember. My friend Robert was born on January 31 and for most of his birthdays I've attended a party in honor of him on Super Bowl Sunday. I won't be able to this year, but what better time to have a party for William? The Super Bowl falls on the Sunday after his birthday, and Austin and I are both pretty big football fans, so why not celebrate during halftime? I don't watch for the commercials or the halftime show, that's when I like to talk and eat...and have William shove his face in a cake. Sounds pretty perfect to me :)

So today I'm thankful once again not only for William's birth, but for the precise way in which God planned it. And for the first time in 13 years, I'm looking forward to February 2.

Scootin', Tootin', and Laughin' up a Storm

Annnnd we're mobile everyone! I wouldn't say William is crawling, but he scoots himself around to get what he wants. He can't go very fast yet so don't expect him to travel far for anything. He does it the opposite way that most people have told me their babies started scooting though. He has no interest in the army crawl - its more like a reverse army crawl. He gets his arms in the army-crawl position, but then stuffs his face in the ground, shoulders down, and butt up as high as it will go. Then we scoot! The farthest he's gone is about 3 feet I think, but he is SURE proud of himself once he raises his head and realizes where he is. Just a few short weeks ago William thought he needed to lay on his belly and have all limbs in the air in order to move. Its amazing how quickly they learn. Here is another Goddard picture of his old form of crawling...I'll have to try to get a video on here of him actually moving. Its a sight to see :)He also has a new fascination with his toots. He thinks they're hilarious! Anytime I hear a toot I no longer have to wonder if it was Austin, William, orr Layla because Austin will look at Layla if it was him, William cracks up if it was him, and no one budges when it was Layla. I'm not sure if the toots are really that funny or if he just likes his laugh because he really seems to enjoy laughing!

His favorite time to laugh is right before bath time, which has been the case for a month or so. We take him in his room, lay him on his changing pad and get him undressed for bathtime. At this point we tickle him a little and he laughs a LOT. It has been so fun to see (hear) his laugh evolve. Now he has the normal huh-huh-huh-breath-huh-huh-huh sort of rhythm, and the breaths are precious. Its like he thinks he'll never breathe again. Every night we worry we're getting him too rowdy before bedtime, but after he expels all of his energy in the bathtub he is ready to calm down, take a bottle, hear some stories and go to sleep.

We seem to rotate between the same books at bedtime, but we try to have some variety. He really likes the pictures in Oh the Place You'll Go and he loves all the board books that he can grab onto. Right now we are in the middle of reading the Bible for about the 5th time. Its the kids version, and honestly I really like how simple the stories are. There have been a few stories that we've read when one of us has said "ooooo so THAT is what it means?" or something to that sort.

On Monday when I picked William up Miss Elise said, "Well, I think William is officially in the spoiled baby category". She explained that he would not allow the teachers to leave his side all day without throwing a fit or taking him with them. He didn't sleep much, didn't eat much, and just wanted extra attention. She said its common for them to have a week or so of rougher days around their mid-year birthday, but yesterday he was back to normal. Hopefully it was just one day for him :)

Tonight I think we'll let him try eating peas. So far he's had sweet potatoes, bananas, butternut squash, and applesauce - and has really liked them all! I'm a little worried about the bitterness of the peas, but I guess we'll see. This weekend I'll have to go get some peaches or other new fruits for him to try. Maybe avocados - he sure liked those in my belly! That may have been me though, it was hard to decipher back then :)

I can't think of anything else monumental that happened this week. He had lots of fun pulling toys out of the toy bin, rolling all around the crib in his sleep, holding the spoon as we fed him, and just being a happy little baby. He loves his Nancy cat (he's warming up to Layla, no interest in Reagan), loves splashing in the tub, is fascinated that he is able to move around to get things, and he loves, loves, LOVES his daddy. I know children go back and forth on their favorites, but right now Austin takes the cake. Its like William idolizes him! Its a pretty incredible blessing to be able to watch the two of them stare at each other with amazement in their eyes - that's enough for me!

Take a Deep Breath, Close Your Eyes...

You can do this.

You've been here before, you've gotten through this before.

You can do this.

This is me motivating myself.

First, let me apologize if this is the first you are learning of what I'm about to write. Generally when things like this come up I run to many, many people for comfort, advice, encouragement, just an open ear etc. I probably go to each person for a specific need as I believe God plants people in our lives to fill different needs we may have. But this time I found myself holding it in. Processing it alone. And with a shocking level of peace. I do apologize though if you are someone I generally run to and now you feel as though I didn't utilize the gift of our friendship. It isn't for lack of needing you, I promise. I think I needed to do this one alone, and honestly - it happened at light speed.

This past week Austin let me know that we had to have a "serious discussion". He told me this in a text message and to any text-lovers reading this: do not send that message in a text message. Ever. Sometimes, when possible, face to face is the only option. He could have left his message at that and I would have known exactly what it was about, but he didn't. His text read:

We need to have a serious discussion tonight. About a deployment. CSM and 1SG asked me today if I can go on a JACKL deployment.

You don't need to know what all the acronyms mean; they're not important. There is only one word in the entire text that is important, and it is the word that I predicted after I saw "serious discussion".

Deployment.

I am an Army wife. I would seriously never have dreamed I'd be an Army wife, but maybe I should have seen the writing on the walls years ago. When GI Joe came out with the larger GI Joe dolls I used to steal my brother's so Barbie could marry GI Joe instead of that pansy boy Ken. I wasn't a fan of Ken. Call me crazy, but I have trouble trusting men who have better hair, better teeth, and take longer to primp themselves than I do. Those men are great for the girls who have better hair, better teeth, and take longer primping than they do, but I'm pretty low key as far as physical maintenance. My first serious boyfriend is now in the Air Force. Lots of guys that I dated or had crushes on are either now in the military or have served already. So why I "never would have dreamed” I'd be a military wife, I'm not really sure. I even told my ex-boyfriend that I couldn't imagine marrying him if he ended up joining the air force because what if our country went to war?

How naive I was.

I never would have thought to myself, "I think I want to be an army wife". I never even thought I was built for that. I don't know what I thought it took to be the wife of a service member, but I was pretty certain I didn't have it. Hell, sometimes I'm still pretty certain. So when Austin's 1SG told me a few weeks ago that I'm the perfect mold for an army wife, I was a bit taken back. Me? First of all, do you even know me? I mean sure we see each other every now and then, and when Austin is working late sometimes I call the office and you answer. Yeah you hear Austin talk about how magnificent I am (cause what else would he have to say?), but do you even know me? How on earth can you presume to know that I was made for this? And please, enlighten me as to why. In any case, I took it as a compliment at the time. I held my head a little higher and walked a little prouder because, as inconsequential as it was, 1SG Keir thought I was a good army wife. ME! Let's relish in the moment.

Well, the relishing is over now. It ended quickly this week when the real test of an army wife slapped me in the face. My husband is asking my permission to agree to a voluntary deployment. Voluntary meaning he can say no. Voluntary meaning he chooses to go over stay with me. Voluntary meaning he has the option to make me a single parent for 9 months or not, and he's choosing the first. What do I do? What do I say? It's very different to hear "Company Commander TOLD me I'm going on a deployment" like he told me 3 years ago. But they asked him? And now he's asking me.

What answer do I have?

I can think of a million reasons why his answer should be no. I can think of one reason why it should be yes. He can think of a million reasons why his answer should be yes, and 2 why it should be no. So its hard to find common ground here. We talked until 2 in the morning and I'm not sure either one of us understood the other side any more than we did going into it. Its important to note that when we have these discussions, I pride our marriage in that we are very productive. We don't resort to name calling, yelling, silent treatments, or other common arguing tactics. I am especially proud to note this because I have never been able to say that before. I was the queen of snide remarks that hit below the belt. I was the queen of bringing up past remarks that contradict current remarks. I was the queen of forcing the other party to cave out of sheer ability to argue regardless of which side may have truly been right. With Austin though, I generally do not employ these tactics. So when I say we were talking until 2 in the morning, I mean we were having as constructive of a conversation as you possibly could have in that situation.

The barrier here is perspective. Then again, isn't it always? If you've seen the movie Dear John you may remember the scene in which John tells Savannah that he is reenlisting and she doesn't have much say in it. She is clearly mad and hurt and frustrated and lost and so many, many other things that I feel but can't describe. He doesn't understand, and in his attempt to calm her he says maybe the worst thing he could say: Savannah, you don't understand. Offensive as it may be, it is true.

It is impossible for someone who is not in the military to truly understand their inner calling. It's impossible to understand their sense of responsibility, loyalty, honor, bravery, and all of the other big strong words that I see posted all over army posts. I can't pretend to know what goes through Austin's head. While I am filled with an overwhelming amount of pride for Austin, Brian, and Jesse's call to service, I do not begin to understand it. However, it is also very true that it is impossible for the soldier to understand the burden left on the spouse. Austin has no idea what all I took care of while he was deployed last time, and he didn't need to know. He has no idea how many times people rushed over to see how he was doing, forgetting that I, too, was going through hell. He has no idea the responsibility of maintaining the house, the bills, the pets, family relations, and countless other things on top of trying to keep a strong front so that he doesn't have to spend extra energy worrying about me. There is a horrible, horrible saying that goes "A distracted soldier is a dead soldier" implying that wives should silently carry that burden. And so I did. I know that not everyone was pleased with how I chose to manage my stress and emotions during his last deployment, but all I can say to that is that I managed it in the best way I knew possible. You show me a way that would be better, and maybe I'll give it a try. Maybe. But this time is oh-so-very-different. This time we have a child. And while I know it tears Austin apart to imagine the things he'll miss, it's no easier for me to imagine raising him alone. No, I won't be alone. I have family, I have friends, and no matter how far away I know I have Austin. But physically speaking - alone.

Two years ago if I needed to curl up in a ball in bed for an entire day I could. If I needed to take 3 bubble baths in a row, changing the water out only as it got too cold, and drink a bottle of wine while staring blankly at the ceiling I could. If I needed to run around town all day, squeezing as many stops in as I possibly could, that was ok too. But its not about me anymore. Its about William. He needs someone stronger than that. Someone who can look at him every day, show him pictures of daddy and say "see your daddy? he misses you and loves you SO much!" with a big grin on my face. He needs someone to wake up with him every day, play with him, feed him, love on him, and help him with all of his development. He doesn't need a wine-o in the bathtub. He makes it SO easy for me to make my life about him because he's so marvelous, but sometimes I hardly know how I made it through the last deployment when my biggest concern was Reagan's bleeding tail. If I barely made it that time, how will I possibly do it this time? And for 3 months longer?

The bottom line here is that though I have no answer I want to give Austin, I do know the answer. And the answer is that he should go. I hate it. It gives me pits in my stomach, wells tears in my eyes and makes my throat ache with a lump the size of a golf ball. I hate that the answer is that he should go, but I honestly never really wondered. I knew the answer before he asked. That is where the shocking peace comes in. I don't want him to go. I want to push him down the stairs so he breaks his leg and can't go. I want this all to be over. Yet, through it all I've known since I got that text message that this is where God has been leading me. He's been working in me for awhile now, and I knew we were headed somewhere. When I got Austin's text, it all became clear. I can't explain it, I just know it was a God thing. And you can't fight a God thing.

Oh, but God help me if Reagan has a bleeding tail.

William Wednesday Sandwich

In high school one of my best friends' name was Amanda, so when people were around us they would often say they were in an "Amanda sandwich". It was irked me because you might say that for lunch you ate a ham sandwich, or that I constantly crave blue bell ice cream sandwiches...the key here being the the contents BETWEEN the bread are what you name. No one says they are having a bread sandwich.

So when I say "William Wednesday Sandwich" I mean that the contents are William Wednesday, the bread is Tuesday Thursday. Because I'm posting about him on the days surrounding William Wednesday. I could have just named the blog something different and not gone into that whole schpeal of my confusion on an insignificant phrase, but this was more fun wasn't it?

Today is all about Goddard updates. Yesterday when I picked William up Miss Elise and Miss Jennifer were busting at the seams to tell me that I have the strongest baby the infant room has ever seen. Why? Well, he's the first baby EVER to pick up "the glitter ball". It is a plastic ball filled with some sort of fluid and glitter that floats around. The babies love to roll it around the floor, but its pretty heavy so apparently no one can pick it up. No one, except William. Mr. Muscle. Man. I thought maybe they were just excited because I happened to come in RIGHT after he did it, but this morning Miss Kim said "Did Jennifer tell you how STRONG William is???" Hmm, apparently he just is that strong.

This month at Goddard the theme is "All About Me". So in William's room they've been taking lots of pictures the past few weeks and this week the teachers started hanging them up. There's a bulletin board with a section for each baby, their hand prints, and a few pictures. Then there are misc pictures hung around the room. THEY ARE TOO PRECIOUS. And it is SO very fun for me to see what he is up to while I'm sitting here writing for your entertainment. I asked Miss Jennifer if she could email me the pictures and she obliged - I didn't realize there were 16! So I'll just share my favorites.

Did I ever write about the lady but hat that hangs from the ceiling? If not - its just this little hat that William loves to stare and and has tried to climb on top of my head in order to grab it. He seems pleased as pop to have acquired it this day:

Or did I mention his love of mirrors?
How about the argument over his hair? I saw this picture and said to Austin "WOW, his hair looks really long in this picture, I wonder why" His response? "Because that was BEFORE YOU LET ME GET HIS HAIR CUT" Hmm. Crap. If I'd realized that I would have kept my trap shut.
And, drum roll please, my favorite. My baby the artist.

It's hard to pick 4 favorites out of 16, but I'll save more for a rainy day :)

The Little Things

I like to cook. I think I always have, though I don't really remember far enough back to be sure. I know in junior high a friend of mine was at my house and we wanted to bake a cake. The ingredients called for 3 3/4 c flour, then the first instruction was to grease and flour the pan so we tried using the entire 3 3/4 c! We had to call my friend MissJan - my answer to all cooking related problems - to ask her how on earth we make all of the flour seep into the crisco. She told us to dump it out, rinse the pan, and start over...which was probably by far the best solution. MissJan has offered me many lessons since then, and I think I'm a pretty decent cook.

In college I developed more of a love for cooking. I didn't have much money, so it was pretty rare that I could cook that extravagant of meals, but I enjoyed cooking when I could and I loved learning all sorts of new recipes, cooking techniques, lessons, etc. I won't say I was the best cook, but I enjoyed it!




I am a Type A cook though. I can't cook macaroni and cheese without measuring spoons, so if I ask you how to make something I'm REALLY looking for a specific, written-out, measured-out recipe. I've done better over the last couple years with trying to just "add a hint of this" and "throw in a pinch of that" but for the most part, I'd really like a detailed guideline. Austin is a great cook, but I would be surprised if he even knows where our measuring spoons/cups are...so in the kitchen, we take the opposite approach. Hmm, I'm pausing here noticing that in most areas of life we take the opposite approach. In the end though, both of our macaroni and cheese delights (we're talking Kraft here) taste equally delicious.


However, I've struggled since William was born with balancing my desire to be physically fit, my work schedule, his daily routine, and my want for cooking. Cooking took the backseat a lot of times as we'd do something fast or simple. Nothing wrong with tostada night or frozen pizza night, but I did grow to miss my full meals.


Enter my birthday present from my mom.

I LOVE it. Love. I don't think I've ever loved a cookbook, and usually I don't do very well with them anyway because there's a lot of sifting through to find a recipe that MAYBE you will like, and I end up with 20 cookbooks while only having tried 3 or 4 recipes from each. When I do get around to cooking I usually go to my own recipe book with a compilation of recipes from family/friends that I know we like. This book, however, rocks. I think we've already tried 8 recipes, and I think we've liked each one. The slow cooker chicken tortilla soup wasn't nearly as good as my homemade chicken tortilla soup...but given the fact that my homemade soup takes over an hour, I'll take the slow cooker recipe and maybe just modify it a bit to add some flavor. (look at ME cooking outside the box!)

The book was written for me, I think. It was written for someone who wants more than just a bowl of cereal, but doesn't have time for an hour of cooking. Most of the ingredients are pre-packaged things like canned beans, frozen broccoli, etc and most recipes don't have more than 10 ingredients. There are also tips for making it quicker. Nothing takes more than 15 minutes of prep time which is perfect, because William happily entertains himself on the floor these days for about 20 minutes before he gets mad that I'm not watching him.

So if you're like me and miss the days of having time to cook delicious meals like chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and fresh green beans, then maybe this book will be a nice fall back. Next weekend maybe I'll go back to the good ol' fried steak meal - its always a crowd pleaser - but tonight, count me in for bacon wrapped pork tenderloin over buttered grits. Yum!

**I forgot to point out the disclaimer: this book is made by southern living. southern cooking is not healthy. so go enjoy some buttered grits, some french toasts roll ups (which are heavenly) and then hit the gym on your lunch break at work. its soooooo worth it.

William Wednesday Tminus1

I've been sitting here thinking of what else to write about today besides William because it isn' t Wednesday. Then I realized how pathetic it is that even when I'M THE ONE IN CHARGE of this thing I still feel like I can't break the rules. I write William Wednesdays. It isn't Wednesday. Can't write today. What kind of lame rule is that? So I'm breaking it.

Only because William turned 6 months old yesterday. YIPPEE happy 1/2 birthday to our baby! We hadn't had a birthday party for him since his 1 week birthday, but we couldn't pass up on 6 months. :) Sunday night I made a spice cake and topped it with 6 candles and some sweet potatoes. Don't worry, the sweet potatoes were in his baby jar so they didn't contaminate the cake for me and Austin! I wanted to get a picture with William and his cake, so I inched it dangerously close to him - and he did what you'd expect, he reached for it. So the first picture Austin got was William grabbing onto the sweet potatoes as I pushed the plate away :) A little distance helped though.

William was MESMERIZED when we lit the candles. It took Austin jumping up and down and waving toys in the air to get him to look up for the camera. Good thing we had already moved the cake away because I'm pretty sure he would have grabbed the flame in half a second. Little did we know, Austin didn't need to jump up and down - we just needed to start singing happy birthday. We sing to him every night, whatever random songs we can think of, but we don't sing much during the day. I'm thinking maybe we should! He thought it was the funniest thing. After we sang to him we gave him his birthday presents. I'll admit, he did get boring things like diapers and wipes but he also got a new outfit and a bath toy. On my birthday he loved playing with the tissue and the bags, so I figured he'd just like to open presents. Austin is more protective with the tissue paper than I am - I guess he's worried that he'll choke himself or something. I just think he's cute when he's stuffing the paper in his face...oops. So, Austin interfered at times while I just looked on and smiled. Then, once the presents were opened, candles blown out (I'd like you to think he blew them out himself because he's a genius), and he powered through his sweet potatoes it was bath time...where he got to play with his new toy!



Other than his 6 month birthday, William had another great week. I have a digital picture frame on my desk and a picture of him when he was a few days old just popped up. He was swaddled in his blanket from Miss Beth with a pacifier in his mouth - the thing was as big as his face! It is so incredible how tiny and helpless he was and a quick 6 months later I have to fight him off of a cake!

He never was one for the pacifier, speaking of - we tried it for the first few days, then grandparents (especially Yaya and Pop) gave it a try periodically to see if it would help but he was never enthralled. The way I see it - that's one less thing to have to worry about later. If it had served its purpose and pacified him, I wouldn't have denied him the comfort - but he'd much rather have a blanket in his fists to stuff in his mouth than a paci, so that's fine by me.

In an effort to make William's diet healthier, make the food taste more appealing, and be a little cost conscious we have decided to make William's baby food. It's actually lots of fun! So far we've made him sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, and butternut squash - but he hasn't tasted the squash yet. That comes tonight! He didn't love the apples at first taste, but now he's a pretty big fan. We bought a cute little baby food maker that steams and then purees the food, so I'm not sure we're actually saving any money all together...but it's still worth it for the other reasons. Have you ever tasted jarred baby food? I used to eat it when I babysat and it all tasted like the same bland cardboard. This homemade stuff rocks - tastes, well, like sweet potatoes! And bananas! And applesauce! Who'da thought? We have some trays of little jars that we use to freeze the food in serving sizes, then just pull a few out and let them sit in the fridge to thaw out...good to go! I'm a pretty big advocate :)

Friday night Kaila and I went to a place called Canvas and Cocktails while Austin got some daddy-baby time with William. He said they had a blast. He picked him up from Goddard which is rare, so I think it was equally special for both of them. Then they went home, played with Layla (who William is growing more and more fond of), played with his favorite balls, jumped in his jumparoo, took a bath, and then daddy got to play some video games. He says his time with William was the best part of the night, but I know he was thrilled to play video games too. He does that about as often as I scrapbook these days, so I'm sure he enjoyed his time.

And one more example of how time flies: when we first took William to Goddard he was one week older than the youngest baby in his class. So basically he and Ethan were the babies. Well, now there are only 3 babies older than him and one of them is out for a few weeks. So he's one of the big dogs! There are 3 new baby girls in the room, so Ethan, William and Diego are now outnumbered 5 to 3. Poor guys :) Miss Kim told me that Helen, Diego and William are all scooting and turning around on the ground - all eager to finally figure out how to move forward but none are there yet. Helen is 9 months and Diego is 8 so I'm guessing one of them will figure it out first, but the way Miss Kim said it generally works when there's a group of them working on the same milestone is that one of them finally gets it and the next day they've all got it. Nothin' like a little competition to spur growth :) It's fun to watch them all trying SO hard to move - I can't wait until the day that I walk in at 5:00 and see them all chasing each other on all 4's :) Little friends are so fun!