You probably assume that because it's Wednesday, and because last weekend was Christmas, that I must be writing about how spoiled William is. But you're wrong! I'm talking about ME!
Sure, William is spoiled too and was spoiled on Christmas for sure. But oh my goodness was I showered with love this Christmas.
Ask and ye shall receive - I got TWO pair of Tom's after my plea on Facebook, and they're very different which is awesome. I got a Texas cookbook, a new purse, new workout clothes, a firepit to keep my feet warm, a Texas star to hang on my house, jewelry, a free babysitter coupon, lots of cards with sweet notes inside, and a special trip from Santa to my house while we were in Colorado springs.
And this doesn't include the presents that are still under the tree waiting for dada to get home!
I can't find the word to describe how I feel. It's a combination of humbled, touched and embarrassed. Not in a negative way - I just don't know the word that fits the feeling.
I've felt this way throughout this entire deployment. From meals that were left in my garage fridge on days when I thought i had no time to eat, to friends making special trips to visit...to countless cards that brightened my days, unexpected gifts in the mailbox, and an outpouring of help and love...I've been so humbled and speechless by the support we have received.
Not to turn it into a cheesy metaphor, but William has had me watching Cars a lot lately which got me thinking. In the beginning lightening McQueen thinks he is a one man show, but he fails. Austin is a great soldier, but I know he couldn't be all that he is if he didn't have his 'put crew' - the support of his family back home. And I know that I couldn't fully support him in the capacity that I do if I didn't have my support system too.
So while Austin is the real hero here, there are so many people who have made it possible for him to successfully complete his job. Whether you supported him through emails, cards, or packages - or whether you supported me in one of those capacities - you have definitely done your part to help us serve our country.
I only hope that the next time I know of the spouse of a deployed soldier that I remember all the ways love was poured onto me and that I can pay it forward. Until then, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being with me on this journey. I couldn't have made it without you.
Here's to a wonderful and blessed 2012.
- manda
Dec 28, 2011
Dec 27, 2011
Army life
I've written a lot about my role as an army wife. I chose it, I've tried to embrace it, and I know that I can complain very little because I knew what I was getting into when I 'signed up'. For better or worse.
But I never signed up to be an army sister so I can complain all I want right? Except I never do. I am so proud of my brother and I feel pride flowing out of me whenever I explain that my brother is a soldier.
Here is a guest-post I wrote for the soldier's wife blog I've told you about before:
http://toloveasoldier.blogspot.com/2011/12/so-many-ways-to-love-to-be-army-sister.html?m=1
I am so so so thankful that I have been blessed with the honor of being so immersed in this life.
- manda
But I never signed up to be an army sister so I can complain all I want right? Except I never do. I am so proud of my brother and I feel pride flowing out of me whenever I explain that my brother is a soldier.
Here is a guest-post I wrote for the soldier's wife blog I've told you about before:
http://toloveasoldier.blogspot.com/2011/12/so-many-ways-to-love-to-be-army-sister.html?m=1
I am so so so thankful that I have been blessed with the honor of being so immersed in this life.
- manda
Dec 21, 2011
William Wednesday
I just looked through my calendar and my pictures on my phone to get an idea of what all I need to write about. I don’t remember when I last wrote, but I feel like it was ages ago.
I think I told you that we met Santa at Austin’s battalion holiday party, and that William loved him from a few feet away. I am not quite as into Santa as Buddy the Elf is, so I didn’t feel the need to force William onto his lap for a picture of him wailing. Maybe it’s a right of passage that I stole from my child, who knows. But he was happy with high 5’s and fist bumps so I let it be. Anyway, here we are with Santa.
William is quite the little ham. When we are home alone he has me cracking up, but when other people are around (if he’s in a performing mood) I could literally fall out of my chair laughing sometimes. One night Dusti and Jodi came over for dinner and William had no problem sitting at the table with the ladies. Usually once he’s done eating he’s ready to run but he was content to sit, smile, and play a new game he and Jodi created. It’s called “peeeease jo-di” and it consists of William begging Jodi to roll a water bottle across the table to him, then she asks for it back and he rolls it back. It’s a complex game, one that took mere seconds to master, yet an hour to finish. Yes, an hour. He also beckoned for Jodi to come back a few times over the last week by saying “peeeease jo-di” leaving me confused as to what we were doing.
He also found it fun to perform for our Christmas card picture. Once we learned Austin wouldn’t be home in time for family pictures, I designed our card in my head and had a former coworker take some pictures of us. Below is our card – and by his cheese-eating grin you can see the mood he was in. (note: if you do not have this at your house you are either one of the 8 cards sitting in my purse waiting for an address, or I didn’t know you’d want one so please tell me so…)
This past weekend we had a Christmas get together with people from my work. It was pretty informal, just at a coworker’s house, but it was a lot of fun. There were lots of kids playing with toys upstairs, running around and being kids – it was awesome. Paul also had little stockings for all the kids to make. William learned, though, that you are supposed to tear open the presents under the tree (the adults had a white elephant gift exchange) so he has wanted to open the presents at home since then. I guess that’s a pretty tough concept! He is very excited about Christmas…he’s excited by all the lights, the “goo goo bells” (jingle bells), the music, the tree – he likes it all. And I’m SO excited to see his excitement on Christmas morning.
Last time I wrote, I think I mentioned that William had perfected 3 letters. Well – we’ve just been learning like crazy. He has bathtub letters which he plays with every night, and I am sure they work on letters at school too. (or maybe they don’t – really I have never asked) Last night during bathtime he was able to identify on his own:
Y for Yaya
G for Oh Gosh
W for William
D for Dada
P for Papa
H (not for anything)
N
M for mommy (after he tried to turn it upside down and make it a W)
B for meeman (Brandon)
C for CiCi
L for William (he knows his name has 2 L’s in it so I’ll give him that)
And he knew numbers 1-4 successfully too. We are stuck on the number 0 and the letter O because he thinks they’re footballs. So I’m equally proud of that. He’s practically Doogie Howser, really.
Sunday I went to the Broncos game, so William got a real treat: all day with Oh Gosh! He was so excited. When I said “he” there I’m not sure which “he” I was referring to, they were BOTH so excited. I think they watched football, went man-shopping (bass pro shop) and had dinner at McAlisters. William also got his first cup of sprite which Brian was quick to inform me has no caffeine. AH, but the sugar. Oh well, he was sound asleep when I got home so all was well in the world.
When I mentioned that sometimes when we’re alone he has me laughing up a storm, I particularly meant last night. I was sitting in Austin’s chair (which I only have a few more weeks to enjoy, because when he’s home I never sit in it) and William kept saying something that I couldn’t quite make out. He knew I wasn’t comprehending, so he grabbed my hand and then pointed to the floor. I realized, then, that he had been saying “sit down” and I knew he probably wanted to climb on my lap or legs or jump on my abs. I sat down and then he gently pushed on my shoulders and said “lay down mommy”. Yep, it was playtime. I laid down with my head rested against austin’s chair and my legs bent while he got a running start and ran towards my legs. When he arrives at my legs he either expects me to instantly pick him up in table top or separate my knees so he falls on my stomach, and he’s equally surprised and excited by both outcomes. What he didn’t expect was for me to lift him in table top, raise him over my head with my legs and drop him on Austin’s chair. He LOVED that…while my abs thought it was a little less enjoyable. Then anytime I would sit up he’d run over and kindly tell me “lay down mommy”. So later I said “lay down William” and I tried to mimick him but instead of jumping on him I tickled his ribs when I got to him, which got that deep belly laugh out of him. We played like that for 20 minutes and I never stopped laughing. He’s hilarious and I think I could play with someone his age forever. I want to take him to never never land!
He also keeps me laughing with the associations he makes. Last night he repeatedly asked me for his 'moose book'. I had no clue what he meant, but it turns out he was asking for the thanksgiving book miss jan gave him. I'd call it either the turkey book or thanksgiving book, but he's right - Mr. And Mrs. moose are the main characters!
On top of being hilarious and keeping me laughing, he is the sweetest thing in the world. And the sense that kids have for their parents’ emotions amazes me. Last Thursday I took him to a crepe place for dinner to celebrate Austin and my anniversary. He was on PERFECT behavior at the restaurant, gave me lots of hugs and kisses, and told me “love you mommy” three times just in the time we were at the restaurant. He also practiced naming the letters in his first and last name, and learned to say “William wallis” which made me beam with pride. He apparently knows when to be funny and when to be sweet, and he knows how to play his mommy to get WHATEVER he wants.
I don’t know how much more I’ll blog between now and next Wednesday because I won’t be at work and my mom and Alfredo will be in town, so just in case I miss you – hope you have a very merry Christmas and that you get to spend lots of wonderful time with the people you love.
- manda
I think I told you that we met Santa at Austin’s battalion holiday party, and that William loved him from a few feet away. I am not quite as into Santa as Buddy the Elf is, so I didn’t feel the need to force William onto his lap for a picture of him wailing. Maybe it’s a right of passage that I stole from my child, who knows. But he was happy with high 5’s and fist bumps so I let it be. Anyway, here we are with Santa.
William is quite the little ham. When we are home alone he has me cracking up, but when other people are around (if he’s in a performing mood) I could literally fall out of my chair laughing sometimes. One night Dusti and Jodi came over for dinner and William had no problem sitting at the table with the ladies. Usually once he’s done eating he’s ready to run but he was content to sit, smile, and play a new game he and Jodi created. It’s called “peeeease jo-di” and it consists of William begging Jodi to roll a water bottle across the table to him, then she asks for it back and he rolls it back. It’s a complex game, one that took mere seconds to master, yet an hour to finish. Yes, an hour. He also beckoned for Jodi to come back a few times over the last week by saying “peeeease jo-di” leaving me confused as to what we were doing.
He also found it fun to perform for our Christmas card picture. Once we learned Austin wouldn’t be home in time for family pictures, I designed our card in my head and had a former coworker take some pictures of us. Below is our card – and by his cheese-eating grin you can see the mood he was in. (note: if you do not have this at your house you are either one of the 8 cards sitting in my purse waiting for an address, or I didn’t know you’d want one so please tell me so…)
This past weekend we had a Christmas get together with people from my work. It was pretty informal, just at a coworker’s house, but it was a lot of fun. There were lots of kids playing with toys upstairs, running around and being kids – it was awesome. Paul also had little stockings for all the kids to make. William learned, though, that you are supposed to tear open the presents under the tree (the adults had a white elephant gift exchange) so he has wanted to open the presents at home since then. I guess that’s a pretty tough concept! He is very excited about Christmas…he’s excited by all the lights, the “goo goo bells” (jingle bells), the music, the tree – he likes it all. And I’m SO excited to see his excitement on Christmas morning.
Last time I wrote, I think I mentioned that William had perfected 3 letters. Well – we’ve just been learning like crazy. He has bathtub letters which he plays with every night, and I am sure they work on letters at school too. (or maybe they don’t – really I have never asked) Last night during bathtime he was able to identify on his own:
Y for Yaya
G for Oh Gosh
W for William
D for Dada
P for Papa
H (not for anything)
N
M for mommy (after he tried to turn it upside down and make it a W)
B for meeman (Brandon)
C for CiCi
L for William (he knows his name has 2 L’s in it so I’ll give him that)
And he knew numbers 1-4 successfully too. We are stuck on the number 0 and the letter O because he thinks they’re footballs. So I’m equally proud of that. He’s practically Doogie Howser, really.
Sunday I went to the Broncos game, so William got a real treat: all day with Oh Gosh! He was so excited. When I said “he” there I’m not sure which “he” I was referring to, they were BOTH so excited. I think they watched football, went man-shopping (bass pro shop) and had dinner at McAlisters. William also got his first cup of sprite which Brian was quick to inform me has no caffeine. AH, but the sugar. Oh well, he was sound asleep when I got home so all was well in the world.
When I mentioned that sometimes when we’re alone he has me laughing up a storm, I particularly meant last night. I was sitting in Austin’s chair (which I only have a few more weeks to enjoy, because when he’s home I never sit in it) and William kept saying something that I couldn’t quite make out. He knew I wasn’t comprehending, so he grabbed my hand and then pointed to the floor. I realized, then, that he had been saying “sit down” and I knew he probably wanted to climb on my lap or legs or jump on my abs. I sat down and then he gently pushed on my shoulders and said “lay down mommy”. Yep, it was playtime. I laid down with my head rested against austin’s chair and my legs bent while he got a running start and ran towards my legs. When he arrives at my legs he either expects me to instantly pick him up in table top or separate my knees so he falls on my stomach, and he’s equally surprised and excited by both outcomes. What he didn’t expect was for me to lift him in table top, raise him over my head with my legs and drop him on Austin’s chair. He LOVED that…while my abs thought it was a little less enjoyable. Then anytime I would sit up he’d run over and kindly tell me “lay down mommy”. So later I said “lay down William” and I tried to mimick him but instead of jumping on him I tickled his ribs when I got to him, which got that deep belly laugh out of him. We played like that for 20 minutes and I never stopped laughing. He’s hilarious and I think I could play with someone his age forever. I want to take him to never never land!
He also keeps me laughing with the associations he makes. Last night he repeatedly asked me for his 'moose book'. I had no clue what he meant, but it turns out he was asking for the thanksgiving book miss jan gave him. I'd call it either the turkey book or thanksgiving book, but he's right - Mr. And Mrs. moose are the main characters!
On top of being hilarious and keeping me laughing, he is the sweetest thing in the world. And the sense that kids have for their parents’ emotions amazes me. Last Thursday I took him to a crepe place for dinner to celebrate Austin and my anniversary. He was on PERFECT behavior at the restaurant, gave me lots of hugs and kisses, and told me “love you mommy” three times just in the time we were at the restaurant. He also practiced naming the letters in his first and last name, and learned to say “William wallis” which made me beam with pride. He apparently knows when to be funny and when to be sweet, and he knows how to play his mommy to get WHATEVER he wants.
I don’t know how much more I’ll blog between now and next Wednesday because I won’t be at work and my mom and Alfredo will be in town, so just in case I miss you – hope you have a very merry Christmas and that you get to spend lots of wonderful time with the people you love.
- manda
Dec 19, 2011
A choice
There is a YouTube video that is circulating around right now that has Santa narrating “The Night Before Christmas” with a soldier twist on it. Santa comes across a house that looks different. It has boots and gear and guns scattered around. He sees soldiers sleeping alone in cots; no family, no decorations, no tree or presents. He sees soldiers who are at home but alone because they’ve given their lives to the military, and he sees some deployed fighting for our freedom. At one point, late in the poem, he has a conversation with a soldier and what the soldier says in reply to Santa’s sad apology really struck me. The soldier said “don’t be sorry, Santa, this life is my choice”.
It is true: it’s a choice. For one reason or another, our servicemen and women have made this choice for their lives and they do not need anyone to be sorry for them. Some join for college money, some join for medical care, some join because they have an inner calling deep in their hearts. Whatever their reason, they made a choice. The men and women who made that choice after September 11 knew what was at stake and what would most likely be asked, and they still raised their hands and took their oath.
Don’t be sorry.
Don’t look at their pictures on the news and be sorry that they are alone on Christmas. Don’t squish your face up with sadness (like mine is right now as I write) and feel anything for them that could resemble sorrow.
Be thankful.
Be thankful for their choice. Be thankful for their sacrifice. Be thankful for their moms and dads, their brothers and sisters, their wives and children, who stand beside them and support them so that they can defend your freedom. Be thankful that there are people strong enough to endure the sacrifices that they have made. Be thankful that we live in a country that is so great that men and women line up to defend her.
When you wake up on Christmas morning, if you get to see your family hug them extra tight. Give them hugs and kisses and enjoy your holiday together. Whether that holiday includes an over abundance of presents, a few presents, or none at all – remember the reason for Christmas and be thankful for all the blessings in your life. Be sure to give an extra hug and say an extra prayer for the soldiers who are alone, but don’t be sad. They don’t want you to be sorry.
- manda
It is true: it’s a choice. For one reason or another, our servicemen and women have made this choice for their lives and they do not need anyone to be sorry for them. Some join for college money, some join for medical care, some join because they have an inner calling deep in their hearts. Whatever their reason, they made a choice. The men and women who made that choice after September 11 knew what was at stake and what would most likely be asked, and they still raised their hands and took their oath.
Don’t be sorry.
Don’t look at their pictures on the news and be sorry that they are alone on Christmas. Don’t squish your face up with sadness (like mine is right now as I write) and feel anything for them that could resemble sorrow.
Be thankful.
Be thankful for their choice. Be thankful for their sacrifice. Be thankful for their moms and dads, their brothers and sisters, their wives and children, who stand beside them and support them so that they can defend your freedom. Be thankful that there are people strong enough to endure the sacrifices that they have made. Be thankful that we live in a country that is so great that men and women line up to defend her.
When you wake up on Christmas morning, if you get to see your family hug them extra tight. Give them hugs and kisses and enjoy your holiday together. Whether that holiday includes an over abundance of presents, a few presents, or none at all – remember the reason for Christmas and be thankful for all the blessings in your life. Be sure to give an extra hug and say an extra prayer for the soldiers who are alone, but don’t be sad. They don’t want you to be sorry.
- manda
Dec 15, 2011
Happy anniversary?
I did the math. Austin and I have been married for 1,460 days. If my memory is correct, we have spent 708 nights apart. 49%! And my best guess is that by the time Austin gets home we will have peaked over that 50% mark.
It seems sad on the surface to think that we have spent half of our young marriage apart. And it is sad! But the time spent together has been so fruitful and so nurtured that it has rarely felt like an injustice.
Not every moment in the last 4 years has been beautiful, and certainly not every moment in the last year. There have been hard times and sad times and times that have tested our love and faith. But I can say with (almost 100%) certainty that I am thankful for the trials we have faced.
I am thankful for the tears. I am thankful for the fights. I am thankful for the nights when I wondered if I would ever see him again. I am thankful because all of that has made the good times that much sweeter. Every night that we have been able to be together I can honestly say we have cherished. Every morning when we have been able to have breakfast together, every evening when we've cooked together after work...every walk to the park, every hug goodbye and kiss goodnight...we haven't taken any of it for granted, and I believe it has strengthened our marriage in ways we will never fully understand.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad to be alone on our anniversary but I had the next best thing: I got to go on a special date with Austin's clone and the best part of our love. William is the greatest gift that Austin has ever given me and aside from spending the day with Austin I couldn't have had a better anniversary evening.
So while I woke up unsure about whether or not to wish myself a 'happy' anniversary and not quite sure how I'd keep a smile through the day, I realized that it was happy regardless of the circumstances. 4 years ago the greatest man God could have blessed me with vowed to love me for the rest of his life. He made bold promises, promises I know he will keep. And any day that I get to celebrate that love and those promises will always be a happy day.
But Maybe we should have thrown 'together And apart' in our vows :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
It seems sad on the surface to think that we have spent half of our young marriage apart. And it is sad! But the time spent together has been so fruitful and so nurtured that it has rarely felt like an injustice.
Not every moment in the last 4 years has been beautiful, and certainly not every moment in the last year. There have been hard times and sad times and times that have tested our love and faith. But I can say with (almost 100%) certainty that I am thankful for the trials we have faced.
I am thankful for the tears. I am thankful for the fights. I am thankful for the nights when I wondered if I would ever see him again. I am thankful because all of that has made the good times that much sweeter. Every night that we have been able to be together I can honestly say we have cherished. Every morning when we have been able to have breakfast together, every evening when we've cooked together after work...every walk to the park, every hug goodbye and kiss goodnight...we haven't taken any of it for granted, and I believe it has strengthened our marriage in ways we will never fully understand.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad to be alone on our anniversary but I had the next best thing: I got to go on a special date with Austin's clone and the best part of our love. William is the greatest gift that Austin has ever given me and aside from spending the day with Austin I couldn't have had a better anniversary evening.
So while I woke up unsure about whether or not to wish myself a 'happy' anniversary and not quite sure how I'd keep a smile through the day, I realized that it was happy regardless of the circumstances. 4 years ago the greatest man God could have blessed me with vowed to love me for the rest of his life. He made bold promises, promises I know he will keep. And any day that I get to celebrate that love and those promises will always be a happy day.
But Maybe we should have thrown 'together And apart' in our vows :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Dec 13, 2011
Worry
Someone should have told me before church on Sunday that I'd need an entire notebook for sermon notes! I use the sermon outlines every week to keep myself on track (and make sure I don't zone out) but this time there wasn't enough space in the margins for me to add my own thoughts and notes.
I've read Matthew 6:25-34 more than any other single Bible passage. I've heard sermons on it numerous times, and I've studied it. But every time I read or hear it I take away something new. Our new sermon series at church is a 6 week series on transforming emotions and this week's focus was transforming worry into trust.
In this short passage Jesus tells us three times not to worry.
DO NOT WORRY
DO NOT WORRY!
DO NOT WORRY!!!
The pastor commented that we have wild imaginations when it comes to worry - boy is he right! After Austin left for Afghanistan I had many days when I was certain I was going to receive that dreaded knock at the door. So sure that there were times when I held my breath as I rounded the corner to my house, fearing the sight of a black SUV in the driveway. (for the record, I don't even know if the message-delivery people ride in dark SUVs but it just seems like they should). What would happen next was I would play out the following days, months, years in my head. Where would we have the funeral? Would I keep my job and house here in Colorado? Would William and I move back to Texas? Would we move to some unchartered ground? What would I do with all of Austin's tools? Guns? Army gear? Clothes? Would I eventually want to remarry? If not, in 20 years would William look with pity at his mom's sad life?
Hours were wasted thinking about these things. Hours that probably add up to days! And for what? How did any of that help me? I literally envisioned me 2 year old as a 22 year old adult who felt sorrow for my life. By worrying about it, did I in any way prevent it from happening? No. And by worrying about it, did I possibly make it more bearable should the day have come? Not in a million years. So what was I doing?
What I learned this week, that I hadn't taken away from this passage before, was that nothing surprises God. There will never be a moment when God will think "WHOA! I never saw that coming!" He is ready and prepared for whatever will come my way, and He is in control of it. I just have to trust Him to continue to guide me and be by my side. He does not promise that through Him my life will be easy. He does not promise that nothing bad will ever happen to me or that life will always go my way. What he does promise is that he will care for me more delicately than the lilies of the field; that he will provide for me more abundantly than he has for the birds of the air.
During the sermon the pastor asked any of us who are parents to imagine our kids as toddlers - easy for me since mine currently IS a toddler - and imagine that they are independently playing. Then imagine that suddenly something goes wrong...a tower falls, a toy breaks, something hurts them. What does the child do? He turns around, raises his arms high and runs into the comforting arms of his parents. The pastor reminded us that God wants us to run to Him in that manner.
Had I received that knock on the door, God would have been with me in that moment and through my grief just as he has been with me through all of life's struggles. And with the absence of that door-knock, I know He has been with Austin throughout his journey too. He has loved us, comforted us, and protected us together and apart. All he needs for me to do is run to Him and find peace.
No planning.
No worrying.
Only trusting.
Dec 11, 2011
Only 4 days late
**i wrote this Thursday...oops!
When I missed blogging yesterday about William, I debated just skipping this week all together because I have other things I could write about today, but I fear that I would NEVER get this week and next week combined into one blog for him. So, maybe I’ll post twice today or maybe I will this weekend or maybe the less important topics will fall by the wayside. Have to keep it prioritized here!
I think it’s safe to say that William loves December. He loves the white snow, he likes when I tell him that we’re walking on slippery ice, and he LOVE LOVE LOVES sledding. Loves. Did I mention that? Brian and I took him sledding on Sunday and either he was too excited to realize he was cold, or 2 shirts, 2 jackets, ski pants, fleece socks, waterproof boots, and mittens really do work. Oh, and a hat of course. What kind of mom would I be? Brian showed William how to lay down on the sled first, so later when we tried to get him to sit on it so that we could sit behind him (on the 2 person sled) he wanted none of that. So, he took up the entire 2 person sled and we just jumped on the back with our knees…dragging our poor legs in the snow!
Brian and I were not so adequately dressed and we were shivering in our blue jeans, so sledding was short lived. Besides, it was somewhere around 15 degrees outside! William was VERY upset when the sledding ended, and I think thanks to his layering he could have gone for hours. It’s amazing how kids just don’t realize things like weather.
William also loves Christmas lights. He is working on trying to build 3 and 4 word phrases, so he’s having fun trying to say “blue Christmas lights” or “see blue Christmas lights”. He concentrates very hard on these bigger phrases, and sometimes gets the words confused, but he eventually gets there. Sometimes it will start out as “blue blue mumble mumble lights…..Christmas blue….blue Christmas blue…blue Christmas lights” Once he finally gets to his final phrase I can see the satisfaction on his face that he GOT it. Watching the development of language has by far been one of my favorite parts of watching him grow. I thought watching him learn to walk would be, but language development is just amazing to me.
And the things he puts together sometimes crack me up! When we drove past the hill this morning where we went sledding, he said “Oh Gosh GOOOOOOOO”. Because Austin taught him to say “go go go” when he sees football on TV, now anything with a Texans logo is referred to as “go go”. I have a go go hat, a go go shirt, a go go purse, and he has a go go jacket. Every morning he tells me if he wants to wear “dada jacket” (which is a black jacket that matches one of Austin’s), his orange jacket, or his go go jacket. He has some brown boots that YaYa bought him that she referred to as his workerman boots. So he calls them his “man boots” and he wears them almost every day. He thinks all large vehicles are buses, so what you and I would call the “trash truck” he refers to as a “rash bus green” (because the trash trucks here are green). There are so many little phrases that he pieces together, and there are a few that I tried to mentally note to remember throughout the week and I’m racking my brain now to remember them. It’s just hilarious and amazing how he puts things together and how his brain processes it all. His memory is also amazing. He saw an airplane yesterday morning and said “airplane…airplane mommy” I said “that’s right; mommy went on an airplane with you”. Then he said “airplane mommy oh gosh”. I said “that’s right, we went on an airplane with oh gosh!” Then I asked him where the airplane took us and he said “airplane mommy kexas”. He apparently remembers our Thanksgiving vacation very well!
Last night we went to Austin’s battalion Christmas party where Santa made an appearance. William was wearing a shirt that says “I ate Santa’s cookies” and the O’s in “cookies” look like chocolate chip cookies. I had read him the shirt a few times, and a friend of ours asked him what was on the shirt and William replied “cookies”. Then when we walked over and met Santa, I said “William this is santa” and he said “ate santa cookies” as he pointed to his shirt.
Did I mention he’s brilliant? Because he is. We were pointing at the model airplanes on the ceiling and counting them. As I said a number he repeated it. Then later when I pointed to one he said “one”. Then I pointed to another and he said “two”. Without my help, he got up to number 4 and WITH my help he got up to number 13. He also recognizes and verbalizes the letters W, A and M, and he knows the number 1. He thinks the letter T and the number 7 are also number 1, but I think that’s still pretty great recognition. You know, with my mommy bias and my lack of early childhood education knowledge. So, take my opinion as you wish – but I still think he’s brilliant.
Last night was the first time he saw our tree with the lights on and he was just mesmerized. We have little chili pepper covers on our lights and he kept touching them and saying “oooo”. Then he found this ornament that is a miniature wreath of rustic looking bells. He ran around the house shaking the ornament until it accidentally dropped on layla. He immediately said “uh oh layla” and gave her a big hug and kiss. She’s a wonderfully patient dog and is so great with him, but I’m sure a lot of it has to do with the love William pours out onto her. William just adores her!
He also seems to adore Baby Kelli and has been talking to her every day for a week now. The past 4 nights he’s cried for her to save him from the horrific fate of bedtime, and lots of times I hear him jabbering in his own language and all I can make out is “baby lelli”. He loves to look at her pictures, and a couple of times when he sees her he also says “Nana” (dana) and “meman” (Brandon). So he is making the association between Kelli and her parents. I always wondered how long it normally takes kids to learn about their families, and if it would take him longer since we don’t see them often but I guess the 6 trips/year to Texas are paying off. Not financially, but in ways more valuable.
So, December is shaping up to be one of our best months yet. We’re pumped about Christmas lights, we’re pumped about “mismis rees” and the ornament he made last night, we’re learning at light speed and sharpening our memory, and we are beyond excited about the fact that Dada is coming home SOON. I’ve told him enough times that now when he sees dada doll he sometimes excitedly announces “dada home OOOOOOON”. He’s pumped, and you’d be a fool to think I’m not right along with him.
- manda
When I missed blogging yesterday about William, I debated just skipping this week all together because I have other things I could write about today, but I fear that I would NEVER get this week and next week combined into one blog for him. So, maybe I’ll post twice today or maybe I will this weekend or maybe the less important topics will fall by the wayside. Have to keep it prioritized here!
I think it’s safe to say that William loves December. He loves the white snow, he likes when I tell him that we’re walking on slippery ice, and he LOVE LOVE LOVES sledding. Loves. Did I mention that? Brian and I took him sledding on Sunday and either he was too excited to realize he was cold, or 2 shirts, 2 jackets, ski pants, fleece socks, waterproof boots, and mittens really do work. Oh, and a hat of course. What kind of mom would I be? Brian showed William how to lay down on the sled first, so later when we tried to get him to sit on it so that we could sit behind him (on the 2 person sled) he wanted none of that. So, he took up the entire 2 person sled and we just jumped on the back with our knees…dragging our poor legs in the snow!
Brian and I were not so adequately dressed and we were shivering in our blue jeans, so sledding was short lived. Besides, it was somewhere around 15 degrees outside! William was VERY upset when the sledding ended, and I think thanks to his layering he could have gone for hours. It’s amazing how kids just don’t realize things like weather.
William also loves Christmas lights. He is working on trying to build 3 and 4 word phrases, so he’s having fun trying to say “blue Christmas lights” or “see blue Christmas lights”. He concentrates very hard on these bigger phrases, and sometimes gets the words confused, but he eventually gets there. Sometimes it will start out as “blue blue mumble mumble lights…..Christmas blue….blue Christmas blue…blue Christmas lights” Once he finally gets to his final phrase I can see the satisfaction on his face that he GOT it. Watching the development of language has by far been one of my favorite parts of watching him grow. I thought watching him learn to walk would be, but language development is just amazing to me.
And the things he puts together sometimes crack me up! When we drove past the hill this morning where we went sledding, he said “Oh Gosh GOOOOOOOO”. Because Austin taught him to say “go go go” when he sees football on TV, now anything with a Texans logo is referred to as “go go”. I have a go go hat, a go go shirt, a go go purse, and he has a go go jacket. Every morning he tells me if he wants to wear “dada jacket” (which is a black jacket that matches one of Austin’s), his orange jacket, or his go go jacket. He has some brown boots that YaYa bought him that she referred to as his workerman boots. So he calls them his “man boots” and he wears them almost every day. He thinks all large vehicles are buses, so what you and I would call the “trash truck” he refers to as a “rash bus green” (because the trash trucks here are green). There are so many little phrases that he pieces together, and there are a few that I tried to mentally note to remember throughout the week and I’m racking my brain now to remember them. It’s just hilarious and amazing how he puts things together and how his brain processes it all. His memory is also amazing. He saw an airplane yesterday morning and said “airplane…airplane mommy” I said “that’s right; mommy went on an airplane with you”. Then he said “airplane mommy oh gosh”. I said “that’s right, we went on an airplane with oh gosh!” Then I asked him where the airplane took us and he said “airplane mommy kexas”. He apparently remembers our Thanksgiving vacation very well!
Last night we went to Austin’s battalion Christmas party where Santa made an appearance. William was wearing a shirt that says “I ate Santa’s cookies” and the O’s in “cookies” look like chocolate chip cookies. I had read him the shirt a few times, and a friend of ours asked him what was on the shirt and William replied “cookies”. Then when we walked over and met Santa, I said “William this is santa” and he said “ate santa cookies” as he pointed to his shirt.
Did I mention he’s brilliant? Because he is. We were pointing at the model airplanes on the ceiling and counting them. As I said a number he repeated it. Then later when I pointed to one he said “one”. Then I pointed to another and he said “two”. Without my help, he got up to number 4 and WITH my help he got up to number 13. He also recognizes and verbalizes the letters W, A and M, and he knows the number 1. He thinks the letter T and the number 7 are also number 1, but I think that’s still pretty great recognition. You know, with my mommy bias and my lack of early childhood education knowledge. So, take my opinion as you wish – but I still think he’s brilliant.
Last night was the first time he saw our tree with the lights on and he was just mesmerized. We have little chili pepper covers on our lights and he kept touching them and saying “oooo”. Then he found this ornament that is a miniature wreath of rustic looking bells. He ran around the house shaking the ornament until it accidentally dropped on layla. He immediately said “uh oh layla” and gave her a big hug and kiss. She’s a wonderfully patient dog and is so great with him, but I’m sure a lot of it has to do with the love William pours out onto her. William just adores her!
He also seems to adore Baby Kelli and has been talking to her every day for a week now. The past 4 nights he’s cried for her to save him from the horrific fate of bedtime, and lots of times I hear him jabbering in his own language and all I can make out is “baby lelli”. He loves to look at her pictures, and a couple of times when he sees her he also says “Nana” (dana) and “meman” (Brandon). So he is making the association between Kelli and her parents. I always wondered how long it normally takes kids to learn about their families, and if it would take him longer since we don’t see them often but I guess the 6 trips/year to Texas are paying off. Not financially, but in ways more valuable.
So, December is shaping up to be one of our best months yet. We’re pumped about Christmas lights, we’re pumped about “mismis rees” and the ornament he made last night, we’re learning at light speed and sharpening our memory, and we are beyond excited about the fact that Dada is coming home SOON. I’ve told him enough times that now when he sees dada doll he sometimes excitedly announces “dada home OOOOOOON”. He’s pumped, and you’d be a fool to think I’m not right along with him.
- manda
Dec 6, 2011
Great support
It's no secret that this has been the most trying time of the deployment. The past few weeks has proven my notion that the end is the exciting time to be wrong. Or at least it doesn't get exciting as early as I thought it would.
But I have great support, and thanks to that I have bounced back into my Rosie mood for the last stretch.
First, Brittany reminded me that if I look at all of my tasks/responsibilities it is way too daunting to even consider doing. But I can still just take things one at a time, and she took it upon herself to make a Christmas tree my #1. So...
It's a little bitty thing and it's not live, but I love it. We've always had live trees and I've always loved going to pick it out with Austin. For the last 5 it's never failed that the week when we've decided to get the tree it has been single digit temperatures, so why not go get my itty bitty baby tree in the same weather? Luckily target was a comfortable temperature :)
Next, my mom responded to my last blog post with a great idea. She suggested I have a jar where I deposit $1 or $5 or $10 every day from now until Austin gets home. Then, when he's home we can spend the money doing something fun and special. The bright side of this plan is that I either can be excited by the fact that I only deposit $10 twenty times, or I can be excited that we have a jackpot of $400 to spend. Both sides have their pros and cons, but the important thing is it would be a new daily motivator and reminder. Which is exactly what I need.
And last, austin was, as always, the greatest source of encouragement and motivation. He reminded me that when I've done the best this year I have kept my focus on the small victories and the things I have accomplished. Lately the focus has shifted. I know a lot of that roots from the expectation that he would already be home right now, and it's been hard for me to overlook that fact. But that has changed how I look at things. He suggested that rather than look at Melvin in the garage and think about how much I wish Austin had bought it with me, I should look at Melvin and be proud of the fact that I did it myself. I didn't settle for a 'similar' car to what I wanted, I didn't pay more than I had wanted to, and I did it on my own.
I've done a lot on my own, and I do have a lot to be proud of. But I couldn't have done it all without all of the support and encouragement I've had along the way. I finally feel like we are really closing in on the end, and I finally breathe easier because I know Austin will be home soon.
I guess it's true what they say that everything is better in the morning. Amazing what one day can change.
- manda
But I have great support, and thanks to that I have bounced back into my Rosie mood for the last stretch.
First, Brittany reminded me that if I look at all of my tasks/responsibilities it is way too daunting to even consider doing. But I can still just take things one at a time, and she took it upon herself to make a Christmas tree my #1. So...
It's a little bitty thing and it's not live, but I love it. We've always had live trees and I've always loved going to pick it out with Austin. For the last 5 it's never failed that the week when we've decided to get the tree it has been single digit temperatures, so why not go get my itty bitty baby tree in the same weather? Luckily target was a comfortable temperature :)
Next, my mom responded to my last blog post with a great idea. She suggested I have a jar where I deposit $1 or $5 or $10 every day from now until Austin gets home. Then, when he's home we can spend the money doing something fun and special. The bright side of this plan is that I either can be excited by the fact that I only deposit $10 twenty times, or I can be excited that we have a jackpot of $400 to spend. Both sides have their pros and cons, but the important thing is it would be a new daily motivator and reminder. Which is exactly what I need.
And last, austin was, as always, the greatest source of encouragement and motivation. He reminded me that when I've done the best this year I have kept my focus on the small victories and the things I have accomplished. Lately the focus has shifted. I know a lot of that roots from the expectation that he would already be home right now, and it's been hard for me to overlook that fact. But that has changed how I look at things. He suggested that rather than look at Melvin in the garage and think about how much I wish Austin had bought it with me, I should look at Melvin and be proud of the fact that I did it myself. I didn't settle for a 'similar' car to what I wanted, I didn't pay more than I had wanted to, and I did it on my own.
I've done a lot on my own, and I do have a lot to be proud of. But I couldn't have done it all without all of the support and encouragement I've had along the way. I finally feel like we are really closing in on the end, and I finally breathe easier because I know Austin will be home soon.
I guess it's true what they say that everything is better in the morning. Amazing what one day can change.
- manda
Dec 5, 2011
They took it away
I’ve been told that counting down is a bad plan with deployments. You never know when a deployment may get extended, and when you have to suddenly add to your count down its depressing. I’ve even had someone suggest that rather than countdown we should “count up”. The suggestion was to have a vase or a jar or some sort of container where I could see the “time” add up and I could see how far I’ve come. Maybe it’d be marbles or pennies or some other visual representation of the time that has passed. The idea is that rather than wishing time away, we be grateful for the days we’ve had and proud of how far we’ve come.
It sounds more brilliant than it is, if you ask me.
I like counting down. Even when my calendar said 270 days I liked seeing the number slowly decrease. I bought a dry erase calendar for my fridge where I marked milestone days such as 200, 150, etc and then as we were nearing the end I had the calendar marked for every 10 days. “50” “40” “30”. Yes, I had 30 marked. At one point I could SEE that the 30 day marker was fast approaching. Well, maybe not FAST approaching but slowly coming upon us. I know to some people seeing the countdown the entire way through may seem daunting but for me, marking off the days and seeing progress that way was a morale booster. Or, at least, a morale maintain-er.
When I wrote out the calendar for September the upper right hand corner said “91”. At some point in that first or second week I had to erase that and change it to 116. It was demoralizing. It was excruciating. It physically pained me to do it, but I did. I whined and sulked for a little bit, but by the time October rolled around I was once again perked up and happy to write 87 in the upper hand corner. I marked the days that represented 75 days out and 60 days out…and then on November 1 I was able to mark 50 and 40 and 30. The upper right hand corner read “56” and it was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders to see the countdown getting so low. 56 days – TOTALLY doable.
Then when the second supposed extension came out I was defeated. I was angry. I contemplated ripping down my calendar, but decided short of that I’d just erase my countdown. With tear filled eyes I erased all of my numbers and what was left was just a run of the mill family calendar. It held no significance and did nothing for my morale or spirits. It was just another calendar, one to add to my collection that I’m too embarrassed to admit.
The hardest part about this new “extension” is that I do not have a date. Even if I mustered up the courage and strength to strap on my smile and start counting again – I have no date to which I can count. Maybe he will be home in December, or maybe he’ll be home before my life at work becomes hell on January 5. Or maybe he won’t be home until I’m in the thick of year end nastiness on January 15 when I will be able to greet him with a “welcome home, see you in 10 days” kiss. Maybe I really am within that 30 day window I was so ecstatic about one month ago or maybe I still have well over a month to go. I don’t know, and it’s killing me. It’s hard to get geared up and excited when you aren’t even sure what you’re getting geared up for, so my excitement is hardly recognizable. I don’t have much Christmas cheer (despite the fact that I’ve bought more Christmas presents than I had ever planned to buy) and I don’t have that turbo-boost that usually comes at the end of a race.
So I revisited the idea of counting up. And I decided I feel the same way as I did back when it was first suggested. I have loved this year with William. Please don’t misunderstand. I have not wished this year away and I have thoroughly enjoyed every laugh, every cuddle, every hug and every kiss…I’ve enjoyed getting to know the precious personality he was given and trying to shape that personality into a well mannered, well behaved, busy little boy. I’ve loved it. But I don’t want to count up. I don’t want to look at how far I’ve come. I don’t want to think about the number of days I’ve spent without my husband. I don’t want to stare at a vase full of marbles and think to myself, “my, I’m a strong woman look what I’ve done”. I just want to look on my fridge and see the numbers “3…2…1…” and I want to run to Denver International Airport in my slightly overdressed ensemble and attempt to sprint into his arms in 5 inch heels. I just want it to be over so I can try to forget it ever happened. I want to remember the good parts of 2011, and I want the bad parts to disappear.
- manda
It sounds more brilliant than it is, if you ask me.
I like counting down. Even when my calendar said 270 days I liked seeing the number slowly decrease. I bought a dry erase calendar for my fridge where I marked milestone days such as 200, 150, etc and then as we were nearing the end I had the calendar marked for every 10 days. “50” “40” “30”. Yes, I had 30 marked. At one point I could SEE that the 30 day marker was fast approaching. Well, maybe not FAST approaching but slowly coming upon us. I know to some people seeing the countdown the entire way through may seem daunting but for me, marking off the days and seeing progress that way was a morale booster. Or, at least, a morale maintain-er.
When I wrote out the calendar for September the upper right hand corner said “91”. At some point in that first or second week I had to erase that and change it to 116. It was demoralizing. It was excruciating. It physically pained me to do it, but I did. I whined and sulked for a little bit, but by the time October rolled around I was once again perked up and happy to write 87 in the upper hand corner. I marked the days that represented 75 days out and 60 days out…and then on November 1 I was able to mark 50 and 40 and 30. The upper right hand corner read “56” and it was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders to see the countdown getting so low. 56 days – TOTALLY doable.
Then when the second supposed extension came out I was defeated. I was angry. I contemplated ripping down my calendar, but decided short of that I’d just erase my countdown. With tear filled eyes I erased all of my numbers and what was left was just a run of the mill family calendar. It held no significance and did nothing for my morale or spirits. It was just another calendar, one to add to my collection that I’m too embarrassed to admit.
The hardest part about this new “extension” is that I do not have a date. Even if I mustered up the courage and strength to strap on my smile and start counting again – I have no date to which I can count. Maybe he will be home in December, or maybe he’ll be home before my life at work becomes hell on January 5. Or maybe he won’t be home until I’m in the thick of year end nastiness on January 15 when I will be able to greet him with a “welcome home, see you in 10 days” kiss. Maybe I really am within that 30 day window I was so ecstatic about one month ago or maybe I still have well over a month to go. I don’t know, and it’s killing me. It’s hard to get geared up and excited when you aren’t even sure what you’re getting geared up for, so my excitement is hardly recognizable. I don’t have much Christmas cheer (despite the fact that I’ve bought more Christmas presents than I had ever planned to buy) and I don’t have that turbo-boost that usually comes at the end of a race.
So I revisited the idea of counting up. And I decided I feel the same way as I did back when it was first suggested. I have loved this year with William. Please don’t misunderstand. I have not wished this year away and I have thoroughly enjoyed every laugh, every cuddle, every hug and every kiss…I’ve enjoyed getting to know the precious personality he was given and trying to shape that personality into a well mannered, well behaved, busy little boy. I’ve loved it. But I don’t want to count up. I don’t want to look at how far I’ve come. I don’t want to think about the number of days I’ve spent without my husband. I don’t want to stare at a vase full of marbles and think to myself, “my, I’m a strong woman look what I’ve done”. I just want to look on my fridge and see the numbers “3…2…1…” and I want to run to Denver International Airport in my slightly overdressed ensemble and attempt to sprint into his arms in 5 inch heels. I just want it to be over so I can try to forget it ever happened. I want to remember the good parts of 2011, and I want the bad parts to disappear.
- manda
Dec 1, 2011
Melvin
Two blogs in one day…and on a day when I’m very busy at work…interesting! Technically I wrote the William blog yesterday and just had to add pictures, and if I sit here and think about state taxes for another minute I might burst. So I have something more fun/exciting/thrilling/beautiful to talk about.
MELVIN!!!!!!!!
My mom’s dad’s name was Melvin Jesse Ford. I don’t remember him as he passed away when I was 2, but I hear he was as cool as they came. He was a true horse whisperer, he was a stunt double for Roy Rogers (is that who Aunt Mandy?), he carried the Texas Flag as he rode his horse in the centennial parade, and he was the reason my mom had such high standards for a husband. In turn, her high standards resulted in my dad which gave me super duper high standards, which has ultimately resulted in me having the best husband on the face of the earth. Period.
Point of the story: Melvin Jesse Ford was awesome. So, when looking for the most awesome of awesome names for my new car, Melvin was the perfect fit. I had liked the nickname Expy as I waited for a final name, I liked the idea of naming it after one of the famous explorers like Cortez or … well I don’t know history very well so Cortez. And Dora was even on the board. (get it? Dora the Explorer?) But when Austin nicknamed it DF for Damn Ford, it made me think of my mom’s mom because her initials were DF. I didn’t think “Dorothy” was suitable, but that took me to Melvin. And there you have it – my explorer has the coolest name ever and is unlike other vehicles in its gender. Deal with it.
Meet Melvin!
I was a bit particular about what I wanted. I wanted captains chairs in the middle row, a moonroof, and the navigation and all the toys that come with it. But I didn’t want a DVD player and I didn’t want the extra package that included blind spot monitoring, park assist, and cruise control assist. The trouble was finding one that fit the bill! I worked with 2 different dealers and both tried to sell me vehicles that were close but not exact, until Jon finally realized I had time to buy and I wasn’t going to be persuaded into a car I didn’t want. So when he texted me the window sticker of exactly what I wanted I said “SOLD!” I had wanted to pick it up this Saturday but he wanted the sale in his November books, so last night Brian was wonderful and drove all the way up to Denver to play with William so I could take care of car paperwork. Before Brian took William back home William climbed all over Melvin, turned on the navigation and radio, and played with the steering wheel while the speakers blared “bad to the bone”. It was perfect!
Sorry the pictures aren't great I took them at 10pm in my freezing cold garage!
In case I forget what I drive it's written everywhere...
And because nothing can be perfect, Melvin does have one slight flaw
But Microsoft can't be all that bad can it?
I hated that Austin wasn’t with me, but he did stay up late and was online the whole time so it was as close as it could come. And I can’t wait to pick him up at the airport in our new car!
- manda
MELVIN!!!!!!!!
My mom’s dad’s name was Melvin Jesse Ford. I don’t remember him as he passed away when I was 2, but I hear he was as cool as they came. He was a true horse whisperer, he was a stunt double for Roy Rogers (is that who Aunt Mandy?), he carried the Texas Flag as he rode his horse in the centennial parade, and he was the reason my mom had such high standards for a husband. In turn, her high standards resulted in my dad which gave me super duper high standards, which has ultimately resulted in me having the best husband on the face of the earth. Period.
Point of the story: Melvin Jesse Ford was awesome. So, when looking for the most awesome of awesome names for my new car, Melvin was the perfect fit. I had liked the nickname Expy as I waited for a final name, I liked the idea of naming it after one of the famous explorers like Cortez or … well I don’t know history very well so Cortez. And Dora was even on the board. (get it? Dora the Explorer?) But when Austin nicknamed it DF for Damn Ford, it made me think of my mom’s mom because her initials were DF. I didn’t think “Dorothy” was suitable, but that took me to Melvin. And there you have it – my explorer has the coolest name ever and is unlike other vehicles in its gender. Deal with it.
Meet Melvin!
I was a bit particular about what I wanted. I wanted captains chairs in the middle row, a moonroof, and the navigation and all the toys that come with it. But I didn’t want a DVD player and I didn’t want the extra package that included blind spot monitoring, park assist, and cruise control assist. The trouble was finding one that fit the bill! I worked with 2 different dealers and both tried to sell me vehicles that were close but not exact, until Jon finally realized I had time to buy and I wasn’t going to be persuaded into a car I didn’t want. So when he texted me the window sticker of exactly what I wanted I said “SOLD!” I had wanted to pick it up this Saturday but he wanted the sale in his November books, so last night Brian was wonderful and drove all the way up to Denver to play with William so I could take care of car paperwork. Before Brian took William back home William climbed all over Melvin, turned on the navigation and radio, and played with the steering wheel while the speakers blared “bad to the bone”. It was perfect!
Sorry the pictures aren't great I took them at 10pm in my freezing cold garage!
In case I forget what I drive it's written everywhere...
And because nothing can be perfect, Melvin does have one slight flaw
But Microsoft can't be all that bad can it?
I hated that Austin wasn’t with me, but he did stay up late and was online the whole time so it was as close as it could come. And I can’t wait to pick him up at the airport in our new car!
- manda
William Wednesday
I wrote this yesterday...oops...
This week was jam packed and I feel like I just sat down to write last week’s William post. I am sure I am going to miss a LOT of things from this week, I just can’t remember! It’s hard to enough to remember the pieces I do know!
After work last week uncle oh gosh picked William up from school. Brian was SO proud that William actually called him “brian” in the truck, but he later learned that William wasn’t saying that at all. Actually, William was pointing out the bright sun shining in his face. He says “brigh yun” for bright sun, and he says it anytime it is in his eyes. Ooops, guess Brian has to live with Oh Gosh a little bit longer.
William was very excited at the airport about all of the buses and trucks and planes and trains that he saw, and I thought we did a good job wearing him out. Apparently not good enough because he was awake for half of our flight that took off at 9pm! That means he didn’t fall asleep until after 10, which is the latest he’s ever stayed up. I was TIRED! He was very well behaved though and was relaxed, just too excited to sleep I guess. Once we got to Houston he was too confused to sleep so he didn’t really get to sleep until 1am. But, surprisingly he was not too fussy on Thanksgiving. I’d guess not, though, with 20 people around to entertain him! After a busy morning of playing with Yaya and Papa, an afternoon of hopping between uncles and family-friends, we went over to Cici and Pop’s house for the evening. There’s no way he would have napped with 20 people at my mom’s house, so I’m very glad we had a mid-afternoon drive to make. He slept in the car and I drove around awhile to let him get good rest.
Once at their house though he was bombarded with hugs and kisses and presents from his cousins, aunts/uncles and Cici and Pop of course! Herb’s daughters and their kids were in town, and their kids are all somewhere around 10. So having a 2 year old was fun times to them! So much so that on Friday at the zoo they were all punished for fighting over him too much. Oops!
That’s right, Friday we went to the Houston zoo. It is william’s third zoo trip and we still haven’t gone to the one in the city where we live. We should get on that! He had fun, and the weather was great! No humidity and the best weather of the weekend. I am so glad we went that day. It was definitely the longest trip I’ve ever had to the zoo I think, and I was more tired than anyone else by the end of it. But I guess that’s how it goes with 4 families all together. It was a great trip though and I was really impressed with all of the updates and renovations to the zoo since the last time I was there.
Saturday after yaya taught William all the letters of his name, he got to spend the day with his God-family and I hear he had a fantastic time. I didn’t get a SINGLE picture or update, so I can’t really tell you about it. I guess it was top secret J But he was in one piece when I got him back and had napped for 2 hours, so I’d say it went well. And Brianna may have a career in babysitting.
Saturday night was – I think – the highlight of William’s week. We had a Mexican Fiesta with all of our family and William had SO MUCH FUN bouncing from person to person, couch to couch, rolling balls and climbing all over things that I never thought were toys. The entire house was a jungle gym and he thought everyone’s laps were there just for him. There was rarely a moment when I didn’t hear the shrieks of his laughter, and I was told repeatedly how infectious and wonderful his laugh is. It really is! It comes from deep within his gut and you can’t help but laugh yourself when you hear it. It has so much joy and happiness laced in it.
Sunday was the highlight of MY week as we got to spend the day with “baby lelli” as William calls her.
He got jealous twice when I was holding her, but luckily his two uncles were enough fun to keep him from even realizing that Kelli had all of my attention. Around nap time Oh Gosh tried to calm him down to sleep, but William wanted his blanket and dada doll…and really, he wanted to go to sleep on his own terms! So he wriggled out of Brian’s arms, Yaya got his sleeping necessities from the car, and he climbed up onto brandon’s lap to take a nap. Within 10 minutes all 4 boys were out cold and we could hear Brandon’s snoring throughout the house.
I was heart broken when we had to leave, and I think William was a little sad too because this morning he was crying for baby lelli.
He was very good on our flights home on Monday and he even got to play in the cockpit on our layover in Austin. He loved the steering wheel (well, its not quite a wheel is it) and was fascinated that when he moved one, the other moved with it. He also tore the papers that looked to be the instructions to denver…luckily we made it home safely!
He didn’t throw one tantrum all week until Tuesday morning when we were back at home and he was stuck with boring old mom. Had to wake up early, get dressed and out the door quickly, and didn’t have his posse of people catering to his every whim. The poor, poor child.
As for developmental updates or milestones…man, I don’t even know. He talks talks talks, and this week he ATE ATE ATE. Then this morning out of nowhere his head was taller than the headrest in his car seat.
WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? Apparently all that food was going somewhere! He picks up on words like its nothing – repeats almost anything you ask him to and sometimes things you don’t want him to. And his memory is impeccable! Monday night he told me that Emmitt (brandon’s dog) is at uncle brandon’s house. Well, really mhe said “branon owws” but you get the idea. He is as sharp as a tack and nothing gets by that kid. I have said it before and I’ll say it for the next 18+ years…I have some busy, busy years ahead of me!!!
- manda
This week was jam packed and I feel like I just sat down to write last week’s William post. I am sure I am going to miss a LOT of things from this week, I just can’t remember! It’s hard to enough to remember the pieces I do know!
After work last week uncle oh gosh picked William up from school. Brian was SO proud that William actually called him “brian” in the truck, but he later learned that William wasn’t saying that at all. Actually, William was pointing out the bright sun shining in his face. He says “brigh yun” for bright sun, and he says it anytime it is in his eyes. Ooops, guess Brian has to live with Oh Gosh a little bit longer.
William was very excited at the airport about all of the buses and trucks and planes and trains that he saw, and I thought we did a good job wearing him out. Apparently not good enough because he was awake for half of our flight that took off at 9pm! That means he didn’t fall asleep until after 10, which is the latest he’s ever stayed up. I was TIRED! He was very well behaved though and was relaxed, just too excited to sleep I guess. Once we got to Houston he was too confused to sleep so he didn’t really get to sleep until 1am. But, surprisingly he was not too fussy on Thanksgiving. I’d guess not, though, with 20 people around to entertain him! After a busy morning of playing with Yaya and Papa, an afternoon of hopping between uncles and family-friends, we went over to Cici and Pop’s house for the evening. There’s no way he would have napped with 20 people at my mom’s house, so I’m very glad we had a mid-afternoon drive to make. He slept in the car and I drove around awhile to let him get good rest.
Once at their house though he was bombarded with hugs and kisses and presents from his cousins, aunts/uncles and Cici and Pop of course! Herb’s daughters and their kids were in town, and their kids are all somewhere around 10. So having a 2 year old was fun times to them! So much so that on Friday at the zoo they were all punished for fighting over him too much. Oops!
That’s right, Friday we went to the Houston zoo. It is william’s third zoo trip and we still haven’t gone to the one in the city where we live. We should get on that! He had fun, and the weather was great! No humidity and the best weather of the weekend. I am so glad we went that day. It was definitely the longest trip I’ve ever had to the zoo I think, and I was more tired than anyone else by the end of it. But I guess that’s how it goes with 4 families all together. It was a great trip though and I was really impressed with all of the updates and renovations to the zoo since the last time I was there.
Saturday after yaya taught William all the letters of his name, he got to spend the day with his God-family and I hear he had a fantastic time. I didn’t get a SINGLE picture or update, so I can’t really tell you about it. I guess it was top secret J But he was in one piece when I got him back and had napped for 2 hours, so I’d say it went well. And Brianna may have a career in babysitting.
Saturday night was – I think – the highlight of William’s week. We had a Mexican Fiesta with all of our family and William had SO MUCH FUN bouncing from person to person, couch to couch, rolling balls and climbing all over things that I never thought were toys. The entire house was a jungle gym and he thought everyone’s laps were there just for him. There was rarely a moment when I didn’t hear the shrieks of his laughter, and I was told repeatedly how infectious and wonderful his laugh is. It really is! It comes from deep within his gut and you can’t help but laugh yourself when you hear it. It has so much joy and happiness laced in it.
Sunday was the highlight of MY week as we got to spend the day with “baby lelli” as William calls her.
He got jealous twice when I was holding her, but luckily his two uncles were enough fun to keep him from even realizing that Kelli had all of my attention. Around nap time Oh Gosh tried to calm him down to sleep, but William wanted his blanket and dada doll…and really, he wanted to go to sleep on his own terms! So he wriggled out of Brian’s arms, Yaya got his sleeping necessities from the car, and he climbed up onto brandon’s lap to take a nap. Within 10 minutes all 4 boys were out cold and we could hear Brandon’s snoring throughout the house.
I was heart broken when we had to leave, and I think William was a little sad too because this morning he was crying for baby lelli.
He was very good on our flights home on Monday and he even got to play in the cockpit on our layover in Austin. He loved the steering wheel (well, its not quite a wheel is it) and was fascinated that when he moved one, the other moved with it. He also tore the papers that looked to be the instructions to denver…luckily we made it home safely!
He didn’t throw one tantrum all week until Tuesday morning when we were back at home and he was stuck with boring old mom. Had to wake up early, get dressed and out the door quickly, and didn’t have his posse of people catering to his every whim. The poor, poor child.
As for developmental updates or milestones…man, I don’t even know. He talks talks talks, and this week he ATE ATE ATE. Then this morning out of nowhere his head was taller than the headrest in his car seat.
WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? Apparently all that food was going somewhere! He picks up on words like its nothing – repeats almost anything you ask him to and sometimes things you don’t want him to. And his memory is impeccable! Monday night he told me that Emmitt (brandon’s dog) is at uncle brandon’s house. Well, really mhe said “branon owws” but you get the idea. He is as sharp as a tack and nothing gets by that kid. I have said it before and I’ll say it for the next 18+ years…I have some busy, busy years ahead of me!!!
- manda
Nov 24, 2011
Happy thanksgiving
Thanksgiving: 1. The act of giving thanks; 2. A prayer expressing gratitude; 3. A public acknowledgement or celebration of divine goodness.
Growing up, Thanksgiving was one of my least favorite holidays. (We don’t need to get into New Years again do we? I didn’t think so.) Now, like Halloween I wouldn’t say I disliked Thanksgiving, I just never really got into it. I kind of thought it was silly to be honest, and I guess I didn’t realize I had so much to be thankful for. I’ll blame it on my youth! I knew I had health and happiness and family and friends, but I think at 10 years old you just assume everyone has those things. Plus, I didn’t like turkey or cornbread or cranberries(I probably didn’t like green beans or sweet potatoes either…I think I only liked the pie) so that didn’t leave me with a very delightful feast either. So I lumped Thanksgiving in with Halloween, a holiday I could take or leave and one that we just had to get through in order to get to Christmas.
The first Thanksgiving I remember being truly thankful was the first thanksgiving after my dad died, ironically enough. I guess it makes sense, though, that I had lost that childhood innocence and then knew that the things I had taken for granted were not things I was guaranteed in life. We aren’t guaranteed health and happiness and family and friends…we aren’t guaranteed to have a dad, and once I knew that I think I realized how thankful I was for the people I did have. I was thankful for my mom who stood strong in the face of disaster, I was thankful for my big brothers who held me under their wings when we lost our dad. I was thankful for all of our support from our church, family, and close friends. I was just thankful, and I enjoyed the holiday.
Fast forward to college and I was REALLY thankful at Thanksgiving because it was a quick break before finals started, and it was absolutely the best meal I would eat all semester. Yeah yeah, thankful for the rest too…family, friends, thankful to be an Aggie…yeah, all of that. But real food – heavenly.
The point is that I think I like Thanksgiving more every year. I think I realize every year I have more and more for which I am thankful, and the blessings in my life are just astounding. I’ve been trying really hard this year to not run from the struggles of this deployment, but not wallow in a pool of my own misery either. It’s not easy; it has been hard every day. But every day I have made a choice to look at things in the best possible light and what it has turned into has been one of the most blessed years of my life.
The one exception to those abundant blessings is that Austin is not here, and there’s no getting around that. We will spend the first Thanksgiving and Christmas apart since 2005. It breaks my heart and eats me up, and I hate it. I am so thankful for him. I’m thankful for his courage and bravery, I’m thankful for our marriage, I’m thankful for the father that he is. I am not thankful that he will eat a mild Thanksgiving feast all by himself. I’m not thankful that he won’t be able to ask me to bake 3 pumpkin pies or that I won’t be able to make him his own picky form of fruit ambrosia (no coconut, no pecans..boring!) I am not thankful that he will not wake up with us on Christmas morning and will not be able to sit around the tree with Uncle Oh Gosh, Yaya, Papa, momMEEEE and little bear. I am not thankful that he will be spending those days, along with the 275+ prior, in the middle of the armpit of the world surrounded by people who have no semblance of meaning in his life.
But that’s when my perspective has to change. That’s when I have to try to look at things from a different angle. No, I do not like that current situation or what it means. But the reason it is so hard is because I love Austin so much. It is because he is such a wonderful husband and a better father than I ever even dreamed he would be. When we were first married he was a great husband, and he truly has gotten better and better as time has gone on. As a father, I knew he’d be wonderful but I had no idea the amount of patience, calmness, nurturing, and creativity he had in him. At times when I have thought he’d lose his cool, or when I have lost mine, he has been a solid rock with William. He can lose his patience at the drop of a hat with anyone else in the world but with William, he is as patient as they come. It amazes me. I don’t like that he won’t be able to share in the holidays with us, but I am so thankful that I have such a man that makes my heart ache this much. I am so thankful that at some point in the next 8 weeks (let’s hope for 6) he will be home with us and he and our sweet bear will relate to each other as if they never missed a beat. I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for the family I have been given.
I am thankful for the overwhelming love and support of our family and friends. I am thankful for every random card I’ve received in the mail. I’m thankful for the flowers that were sent. I’m thankful for all of the gifts that have surprised me on my doorstep. I’m thankful for the visitors we had throughout the year. I am thankful for the words of encouragement, and I’m thankful for the times when there were no words given at all. I cannot express my gratitude to the people who have supported us through this year, but know that I am thankful. I could not do this alone, and I am so thankful that I haven’t had to. From South Carolina to Illinois to Houston to San Antonio to Colorado and even to little ol’ North Dakota, I have been surrounded by love and support. I am most thankful for my mom, my brothers, my step dad, my in-laws, and my “family by choice” friends…and of course that sweet little boy who has kept my head spinning since he learned to walk. This has been one of the hardest years of my life, but has also been one of the best and I am so thankful for that.
In all things be joyful and be thankful in all things. Happy thanksgiving to you and your family.
- manda
Growing up, Thanksgiving was one of my least favorite holidays. (We don’t need to get into New Years again do we? I didn’t think so.) Now, like Halloween I wouldn’t say I disliked Thanksgiving, I just never really got into it. I kind of thought it was silly to be honest, and I guess I didn’t realize I had so much to be thankful for. I’ll blame it on my youth! I knew I had health and happiness and family and friends, but I think at 10 years old you just assume everyone has those things. Plus, I didn’t like turkey or cornbread or cranberries(I probably didn’t like green beans or sweet potatoes either…I think I only liked the pie) so that didn’t leave me with a very delightful feast either. So I lumped Thanksgiving in with Halloween, a holiday I could take or leave and one that we just had to get through in order to get to Christmas.
The first Thanksgiving I remember being truly thankful was the first thanksgiving after my dad died, ironically enough. I guess it makes sense, though, that I had lost that childhood innocence and then knew that the things I had taken for granted were not things I was guaranteed in life. We aren’t guaranteed health and happiness and family and friends…we aren’t guaranteed to have a dad, and once I knew that I think I realized how thankful I was for the people I did have. I was thankful for my mom who stood strong in the face of disaster, I was thankful for my big brothers who held me under their wings when we lost our dad. I was thankful for all of our support from our church, family, and close friends. I was just thankful, and I enjoyed the holiday.
Fast forward to college and I was REALLY thankful at Thanksgiving because it was a quick break before finals started, and it was absolutely the best meal I would eat all semester. Yeah yeah, thankful for the rest too…family, friends, thankful to be an Aggie…yeah, all of that. But real food – heavenly.
The point is that I think I like Thanksgiving more every year. I think I realize every year I have more and more for which I am thankful, and the blessings in my life are just astounding. I’ve been trying really hard this year to not run from the struggles of this deployment, but not wallow in a pool of my own misery either. It’s not easy; it has been hard every day. But every day I have made a choice to look at things in the best possible light and what it has turned into has been one of the most blessed years of my life.
The one exception to those abundant blessings is that Austin is not here, and there’s no getting around that. We will spend the first Thanksgiving and Christmas apart since 2005. It breaks my heart and eats me up, and I hate it. I am so thankful for him. I’m thankful for his courage and bravery, I’m thankful for our marriage, I’m thankful for the father that he is. I am not thankful that he will eat a mild Thanksgiving feast all by himself. I’m not thankful that he won’t be able to ask me to bake 3 pumpkin pies or that I won’t be able to make him his own picky form of fruit ambrosia (no coconut, no pecans..boring!) I am not thankful that he will not wake up with us on Christmas morning and will not be able to sit around the tree with Uncle Oh Gosh, Yaya, Papa, momMEEEE and little bear. I am not thankful that he will be spending those days, along with the 275+ prior, in the middle of the armpit of the world surrounded by people who have no semblance of meaning in his life.
But that’s when my perspective has to change. That’s when I have to try to look at things from a different angle. No, I do not like that current situation or what it means. But the reason it is so hard is because I love Austin so much. It is because he is such a wonderful husband and a better father than I ever even dreamed he would be. When we were first married he was a great husband, and he truly has gotten better and better as time has gone on. As a father, I knew he’d be wonderful but I had no idea the amount of patience, calmness, nurturing, and creativity he had in him. At times when I have thought he’d lose his cool, or when I have lost mine, he has been a solid rock with William. He can lose his patience at the drop of a hat with anyone else in the world but with William, he is as patient as they come. It amazes me. I don’t like that he won’t be able to share in the holidays with us, but I am so thankful that I have such a man that makes my heart ache this much. I am so thankful that at some point in the next 8 weeks (let’s hope for 6) he will be home with us and he and our sweet bear will relate to each other as if they never missed a beat. I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for the family I have been given.
I am thankful for the overwhelming love and support of our family and friends. I am thankful for every random card I’ve received in the mail. I’m thankful for the flowers that were sent. I’m thankful for all of the gifts that have surprised me on my doorstep. I’m thankful for the visitors we had throughout the year. I am thankful for the words of encouragement, and I’m thankful for the times when there were no words given at all. I cannot express my gratitude to the people who have supported us through this year, but know that I am thankful. I could not do this alone, and I am so thankful that I haven’t had to. From South Carolina to Illinois to Houston to San Antonio to Colorado and even to little ol’ North Dakota, I have been surrounded by love and support. I am most thankful for my mom, my brothers, my step dad, my in-laws, and my “family by choice” friends…and of course that sweet little boy who has kept my head spinning since he learned to walk. This has been one of the hardest years of my life, but has also been one of the best and I am so thankful for that.
In all things be joyful and be thankful in all things. Happy thanksgiving to you and your family.
- manda
Nov 23, 2011
William Wednesday
*I embarrassingly forgot to mention last week that William now recognizes the beautiful aTm logo. He has his aggie jersey and he made the recognition between that and other (countless) aggie decorations in the house. Anytime he sees one he says “AGGIE AGGIE AGGIE AGGIE AGGIE”
**update from last week: Today William is wearing his puppy paw print pants. Proudly. They are a weekly occurance, but sadly they don’t have many weeks left. He is growing tooooo tall!
Now that the administrative stuff is out of the way I can move on to this week! We had another busy week but this time it wasn’t because our schedule was busy, it was because HE is busy. He’s such a busy boy! The only thing on our weekend agenda was to have our pictures taken.
My former coworker, who took family pictures last August one of which is at the bottom of my blog, offered to take some pictures of William and me free of charge. I didn’t want a full photo shoot like last time, just enough to get a Christmas card out the door. Because the weather wasn’t agreeable, we met at Barnes & Noble to take pictures in the kids’ reading section. William was QUITE the ham! He posed, prepped his smile, and gave some looks with his eyes that you couldn’t teach me to perfect! He loved it, and he LOVED all the attention.
Before Akshay arrived at Barnes & Noble we played with the Thomas the Train trainset to kill time. William loved all the trains! I don’t think he has seen toy trains, and then the track was all set up on the table top right within his reach. He was occupied for 20 minutes solid.
At one point a little girl and her mom walked in, clearly headed for the train set, but neither William nor the girl understood they could play with it together. They just stood there staring each other down until her mom took her and said they’d play later. About 5 minutes later they came back so I told William we were going to share, and we went into the book area. It wasn’t long after that when Akshay arrived, and then the little girl and her mom came into the book area too. After we were done taking pictures her mom was reading a counting book to her and William clearly wanted to be in on the reading. He slowly inched his way over to them, dragged a chair with him, and started pointing out the colors of the bugs in the book. The mom didn’t seem to mind, good thing! The mom asked me how old he was and when I said 22 months she said “Oh, I thought he was older than mine, she’s almost 2 and a half. He seems so much older than her!” Ahh, music to a mother’s ears. I think…
His pronunciation (or is it annunciation? What’s the difference) is getting so good. He has an elmo toy with alphabet blocks and Elmo says “help elmo find the ___” and you fill in the blanks with an object on the blocks. On Saturday he said “Help Elmo find the umbrella. Umbrella. U” Usually William would reply “lella” but this time he said “UM lella” (space included) He has also given each of our pets names now, rather than referring to them all as “daya”. That was layla’s old name, and Reagan and nancy were referred to as such also. But this week (or did I write this last week? Man I should really re-read my previous posts before writing!) he named Reagan and Nancy to rere and neecie. Then on Monday night when we were at petco getting food, he saw the bowl of treats at the checkout. He kept saying “cookie cookie cookie” so I said “those are for dogs, do you want to take one to layla? It’s a cookie for layla” He took it in his hand (still at petco) and said “eat lllllaylllllla”. I was so proud of the pronunciation/annunciation and I think he was too, so for about 5 minutes he repeatedly said “eat lllayllllla”. It wasn’t until we were in the truck that I remembered Layla was in Colorado Springs at Oh Gosh’s house…oops!
Luckily by the time we got home William had forgotten all about the cookie and had moved on to more important things, like looking for that darned yellow ball that we lost. He has a toy that came with 5 plastic balls: green, red, purple, orange and yellow. When Cici was here she let him take them into the bath, and since then they have been up and downstairs more times than I can count. Sometimes he carries them, sometimes he hands them to me, and sometimes he throws them through the rails. My guess is that it was in one of those third times that the yellow ball went missing. But, he knows exactly which ball is gone and I think he’ll be searching for it until we find it. I better get to looking!
While I’m looking he’ll continue to be busy. He’ll continue to pour water on the floor and dance in it,
Build block towers bigger than himself
Change out of tennis shoes into his “momas boot” without my knowledge
And make every attempt to make me laugh
But occasionally, when I’m least expecting it, I get a blast from the past and see glimpses of my sweet baby bear. He’s in there somewhere, amidst the opinions and emotions and playfulness and intelligence and energy. He’s still there.
- manda
**update from last week: Today William is wearing his puppy paw print pants. Proudly. They are a weekly occurance, but sadly they don’t have many weeks left. He is growing tooooo tall!
Now that the administrative stuff is out of the way I can move on to this week! We had another busy week but this time it wasn’t because our schedule was busy, it was because HE is busy. He’s such a busy boy! The only thing on our weekend agenda was to have our pictures taken.
My former coworker, who took family pictures last August one of which is at the bottom of my blog, offered to take some pictures of William and me free of charge. I didn’t want a full photo shoot like last time, just enough to get a Christmas card out the door. Because the weather wasn’t agreeable, we met at Barnes & Noble to take pictures in the kids’ reading section. William was QUITE the ham! He posed, prepped his smile, and gave some looks with his eyes that you couldn’t teach me to perfect! He loved it, and he LOVED all the attention.
Before Akshay arrived at Barnes & Noble we played with the Thomas the Train trainset to kill time. William loved all the trains! I don’t think he has seen toy trains, and then the track was all set up on the table top right within his reach. He was occupied for 20 minutes solid.
At one point a little girl and her mom walked in, clearly headed for the train set, but neither William nor the girl understood they could play with it together. They just stood there staring each other down until her mom took her and said they’d play later. About 5 minutes later they came back so I told William we were going to share, and we went into the book area. It wasn’t long after that when Akshay arrived, and then the little girl and her mom came into the book area too. After we were done taking pictures her mom was reading a counting book to her and William clearly wanted to be in on the reading. He slowly inched his way over to them, dragged a chair with him, and started pointing out the colors of the bugs in the book. The mom didn’t seem to mind, good thing! The mom asked me how old he was and when I said 22 months she said “Oh, I thought he was older than mine, she’s almost 2 and a half. He seems so much older than her!” Ahh, music to a mother’s ears. I think…
His pronunciation (or is it annunciation? What’s the difference) is getting so good. He has an elmo toy with alphabet blocks and Elmo says “help elmo find the ___” and you fill in the blanks with an object on the blocks. On Saturday he said “Help Elmo find the umbrella. Umbrella. U” Usually William would reply “lella” but this time he said “UM lella” (space included) He has also given each of our pets names now, rather than referring to them all as “daya”. That was layla’s old name, and Reagan and nancy were referred to as such also. But this week (or did I write this last week? Man I should really re-read my previous posts before writing!) he named Reagan and Nancy to rere and neecie. Then on Monday night when we were at petco getting food, he saw the bowl of treats at the checkout. He kept saying “cookie cookie cookie” so I said “those are for dogs, do you want to take one to layla? It’s a cookie for layla” He took it in his hand (still at petco) and said “eat lllllaylllllla”. I was so proud of the pronunciation/annunciation and I think he was too, so for about 5 minutes he repeatedly said “eat lllayllllla”. It wasn’t until we were in the truck that I remembered Layla was in Colorado Springs at Oh Gosh’s house…oops!
Luckily by the time we got home William had forgotten all about the cookie and had moved on to more important things, like looking for that darned yellow ball that we lost. He has a toy that came with 5 plastic balls: green, red, purple, orange and yellow. When Cici was here she let him take them into the bath, and since then they have been up and downstairs more times than I can count. Sometimes he carries them, sometimes he hands them to me, and sometimes he throws them through the rails. My guess is that it was in one of those third times that the yellow ball went missing. But, he knows exactly which ball is gone and I think he’ll be searching for it until we find it. I better get to looking!
While I’m looking he’ll continue to be busy. He’ll continue to pour water on the floor and dance in it,
Build block towers bigger than himself
Change out of tennis shoes into his “momas boot” without my knowledge
And make every attempt to make me laugh
But occasionally, when I’m least expecting it, I get a blast from the past and see glimpses of my sweet baby bear. He’s in there somewhere, amidst the opinions and emotions and playfulness and intelligence and energy. He’s still there.
- manda
Nov 21, 2011
November
Well you can all sit comfortably knowing I will not be reiterating yesterday's sermon to you. Last week I thought they weren't preaching to me but was wrong; this week I'm sure of it. The sermon was on David and Bathsheba. The idea, I think, was to show that the same man who defeated Goliath was also capable of committing adultery and murder - and none of us are free from that. Ok, yeah, I get it. And like the rest of us I sin daily. But I don't QUITE fit in with the sexual deviation and lies and deceit and all of the snow-ball sins that we focused on. So, God gave me a break. Whew! And you all probably breathed a sigh of relief to learn I am not caught up in sexual immorality...I'm sure you were sitting on pins and needles with curiosity.
So, without church to really write about what do I possibly have for Monday's blog? I can't tell you about my weekend cause that will pretty much be William Wednesday in its entirety. And that's my life! Hmm.
November! Ahh, November. Probably my second favorite month of 2011. August was my favorite, and september ranked pretty low on the list...maybe beating out January by a hair. But November has been awesome. It snuck up on me, swooped in, packed its days full, and it's almost gone before I even had time to realize it was here!
One of the things I've most looked forward to in 2011 was the birth of my first niece. I hope not my only niece! I have waited and waited and WAITED for her birth. I almost think it was more grueling than waiting for William! At least when you're the pregnant one #1 you get to carry the baby with you wherever you go, and #2 you are so busy preparing that the 9 months flies by. (or am I the only one who spends 9 months organizing closets and drawers and painting and washing clothes and organizing diapers and...you get it) but when you're the aunt...and you live 1,200 miles away...all you can do is wait. And SHOP!
I can't believe this is the first I've blogged about my precious niece, but I attribute that to the fact that November is my fleeting friend. So here she is on her birthday!
And here she is 3 short weeks later
She has grown SO much and her face has changed and I have missed it all. But not this week! This week I finally get to hold her and read her 'you are my cupcake' and sing to her and love on her. I'm pretty much obsessed with her and I've never even held her. I had no idea I could love someone that much without even really knowing them, but I do.
So what does an aunt do when she can't sing to her niece or rock her or feed her or kiss her? She shops for her! We bought her 4 new dresses and 2 new pajamas this week (some are from yaya since apparently my target has more baby clothes) So add all that to her Christmas presents and books and the clothes I already had for her and I practically have a Kelli suitcase! I am so excited to show her all of her presents, I know she will be just ecstatic about it :)
And then I suppose the only thing a mom can do with an empty suitcase is go shopping some more. What to buy what to buy...
- manda
So, without church to really write about what do I possibly have for Monday's blog? I can't tell you about my weekend cause that will pretty much be William Wednesday in its entirety. And that's my life! Hmm.
November! Ahh, November. Probably my second favorite month of 2011. August was my favorite, and september ranked pretty low on the list...maybe beating out January by a hair. But November has been awesome. It snuck up on me, swooped in, packed its days full, and it's almost gone before I even had time to realize it was here!
One of the things I've most looked forward to in 2011 was the birth of my first niece. I hope not my only niece! I have waited and waited and WAITED for her birth. I almost think it was more grueling than waiting for William! At least when you're the pregnant one #1 you get to carry the baby with you wherever you go, and #2 you are so busy preparing that the 9 months flies by. (or am I the only one who spends 9 months organizing closets and drawers and painting and washing clothes and organizing diapers and...you get it) but when you're the aunt...and you live 1,200 miles away...all you can do is wait. And SHOP!
I can't believe this is the first I've blogged about my precious niece, but I attribute that to the fact that November is my fleeting friend. So here she is on her birthday!
And here she is 3 short weeks later
She has grown SO much and her face has changed and I have missed it all. But not this week! This week I finally get to hold her and read her 'you are my cupcake' and sing to her and love on her. I'm pretty much obsessed with her and I've never even held her. I had no idea I could love someone that much without even really knowing them, but I do.
So what does an aunt do when she can't sing to her niece or rock her or feed her or kiss her? She shops for her! We bought her 4 new dresses and 2 new pajamas this week (some are from yaya since apparently my target has more baby clothes) So add all that to her Christmas presents and books and the clothes I already had for her and I practically have a Kelli suitcase! I am so excited to show her all of her presents, I know she will be just ecstatic about it :)
And then I suppose the only thing a mom can do with an empty suitcase is go shopping some more. What to buy what to buy...
- manda
Nov 18, 2011
Timothy Thursday
**i wrote this yesterday and forgot to hit post. Oops!**
William is unfailing, if nothing else. Through my tough week he has remained his silly, goofy, happy, opinionated, talkative self – and I couldn’t be more thankful! He talks up a storm, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!!!
Last week he had a lot of fun with his CiCi. She let him bounce on the couch, jump on pillows on top of the couch, eat ice cream more than he has in months (keep in mind mean mean mommy limits the ice cream for her own temptation’s purpose) and overall she just let him do basically whatever he wanted and he loved it! Just as grandparents are supposed to do I’m sure. She had fun working on his colors with him and helped him perfect identifying them at the drop of a hat. Or a ball, as the case actually was.
Saturday he was sad when CiCi left, so luckily we had a great distraction: a birthday party at monkey bizness! Seeing the order in which the party was conducted, and how the parents had to do literally nothing AT the party, it really showed me the advantage to an on-location birthday party. Sure they cost a lot, but the parents walked away with no mess to clean, no dishes to do, and a car loaded with presents that they didn’t even have to pack up themselves. Well worth the money they spent, I’d guess. (though I have no idea what they spent so maybe I shouldn’t speak out of turn here) It was my coworker’s daughter’s 2nd birthday, and the guests ranged from 10 months to 4 years…and were all very well behaved! Letting kids run around for an hour before trying to corral them for food is really the way to go. Making mental notes!!!
Another mental note I made: don’t let your almost-2 year old eat 2 entire pieces of pizza when he has never had greasy, saucey, cheese pizza before. Add to that a Capri sun which he also never gets, and a slice of cake and what you get is a 10:00 vomit-induced wake up. Oops! Poor baby was so confused when he woke up, and clung to his dada-doll crying “dada dada”. I didn’t have the heart to tear dada away right away, but was slightly disappointed #1 because why wasn’t he crying for mommy? And #2 because dada was the ONLY thing that escaped the vomit in the crib…until he squished it all over himself. But that’s ok, if its dada he wants its dada he gets. But once the shock of being jolted awake wore off, and once he was cleaned off in the bath, he had a surge of energy. It was like he thought he had just taken a really good nap. So he ran around the hallway, played with layla, climbed on the bed, and let me read some books. It took just shy of 2 hours to get him back to sleep, but that’s ok. We had fun playing and bonding.
Sunday was as it usually is…fun at church, fun with Oh Gosh and his dog cooky katy (he calls her cooky and she sure is!) fun screaming for the Texans, and a trip to the grocery store. Our Sundays are like clockwork, and he loves them all the more for it I think. Before church he had fun taking his THREE blankies, green bear, doggie and dada downstairs. Here's how he did it:
He has a new game that he seems to like to play with CiCi and YaYa. I think he must know how much it gets to them because he does it every time. When we are on the phone I will say “William can you say hi CiCI/Yaya?” and he ALWAYS responds with “Hi Pop/Papa” (whichever one is applicable) Now, I know he loves his cici and yaya because when his mommy won’t let him eat sweets or out of his crib or all the other mean things that disciplinarians do, the first 2 people he cries for are cici and yaya. But he just LOVES to irk them with his “hi papa” or “hi pop”. That boy!
Yesterday Papa called him and was talking to him on the phone. Papa asked him “William are you going to come to Papa’s house on an airplane?” William’s response was “airplane, oh gosh, airplane”. I’ve been telling him for WEEKS that we are going on a plane with uncle brian, never sure if he was listening or absorbing what I was saying. Clearly he hears EVERYTHING whether he responds or not. Another mental note here! He also knows we are flying to “cexas”…that boy is smarter than he knows!
I’ve discovered what his favorite outfit is right now. It’s his precious paw print overalls that I just ADORED when I bought them 2 years ago. That’s right, I bought them before he was born…that’s how much I love them! I refer them as his “puppy paw print pants” and he is coming along. They used to be called “pop” then “pop pant” and this morning he called them “paw pant pant” Pretty impressive! (wow that was a lot of P’s!) He wore them a week ago, cried everytime he saw them in his dirty clothes hamper, and today he happily wore them again. I will know, though, to throw them in the laundry room immediately after bedtime tonight so that we don’t have a daily lesson on the different between dirty clothes and clean clothes.
When I was home sick on Tuesday I was reading through old blogs and I read one from last fall when Kim and Jennifer were both so excited to tell me that William was the first baby ever to pick up the glitter ball. Do you remember that post? I believe it was in August of last year. Well, yesterday we walked in to say hi to both of his favorite ladies and he ran STRAIGHT to the toy shelf and found the glitter ball! Kim said “OH you found your ball! Did we ever tell you he is the only baby that could ever pick that ball up? He was such a muscle man!” It was too timely! I told them about how I had just stumbled across hat blog and smiled at the memory…time has really flown by and the faster it goes the happier I am that I started these weekly blog posts.
Earlier this week I was thinking about how happy I am that William won’t ever remember this year without his dada, when it hit me: that means he also won’t remember this wonderful year that we’ve had together. It broke my heart! He has been my ray of sunshine and the silver lining on all of my clouds, and it kills me that he won’t remember all of the fun that we’ve had. But at least I can somehow, someday, compile my weekly stories for him so that he can see what a wonderful year we’ve had. It would have been worlds better with dada, but it has been such a blessing for me – whether he will ever know or not.
- manda
William is unfailing, if nothing else. Through my tough week he has remained his silly, goofy, happy, opinionated, talkative self – and I couldn’t be more thankful! He talks up a storm, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!!!
Last week he had a lot of fun with his CiCi. She let him bounce on the couch, jump on pillows on top of the couch, eat ice cream more than he has in months (keep in mind mean mean mommy limits the ice cream for her own temptation’s purpose) and overall she just let him do basically whatever he wanted and he loved it! Just as grandparents are supposed to do I’m sure. She had fun working on his colors with him and helped him perfect identifying them at the drop of a hat. Or a ball, as the case actually was.
Saturday he was sad when CiCi left, so luckily we had a great distraction: a birthday party at monkey bizness! Seeing the order in which the party was conducted, and how the parents had to do literally nothing AT the party, it really showed me the advantage to an on-location birthday party. Sure they cost a lot, but the parents walked away with no mess to clean, no dishes to do, and a car loaded with presents that they didn’t even have to pack up themselves. Well worth the money they spent, I’d guess. (though I have no idea what they spent so maybe I shouldn’t speak out of turn here) It was my coworker’s daughter’s 2nd birthday, and the guests ranged from 10 months to 4 years…and were all very well behaved! Letting kids run around for an hour before trying to corral them for food is really the way to go. Making mental notes!!!
Another mental note I made: don’t let your almost-2 year old eat 2 entire pieces of pizza when he has never had greasy, saucey, cheese pizza before. Add to that a Capri sun which he also never gets, and a slice of cake and what you get is a 10:00 vomit-induced wake up. Oops! Poor baby was so confused when he woke up, and clung to his dada-doll crying “dada dada”. I didn’t have the heart to tear dada away right away, but was slightly disappointed #1 because why wasn’t he crying for mommy? And #2 because dada was the ONLY thing that escaped the vomit in the crib…until he squished it all over himself. But that’s ok, if its dada he wants its dada he gets. But once the shock of being jolted awake wore off, and once he was cleaned off in the bath, he had a surge of energy. It was like he thought he had just taken a really good nap. So he ran around the hallway, played with layla, climbed on the bed, and let me read some books. It took just shy of 2 hours to get him back to sleep, but that’s ok. We had fun playing and bonding.
Sunday was as it usually is…fun at church, fun with Oh Gosh and his dog cooky katy (he calls her cooky and she sure is!) fun screaming for the Texans, and a trip to the grocery store. Our Sundays are like clockwork, and he loves them all the more for it I think. Before church he had fun taking his THREE blankies, green bear, doggie and dada downstairs. Here's how he did it:
He has a new game that he seems to like to play with CiCi and YaYa. I think he must know how much it gets to them because he does it every time. When we are on the phone I will say “William can you say hi CiCI/Yaya?” and he ALWAYS responds with “Hi Pop/Papa” (whichever one is applicable) Now, I know he loves his cici and yaya because when his mommy won’t let him eat sweets or out of his crib or all the other mean things that disciplinarians do, the first 2 people he cries for are cici and yaya. But he just LOVES to irk them with his “hi papa” or “hi pop”. That boy!
Yesterday Papa called him and was talking to him on the phone. Papa asked him “William are you going to come to Papa’s house on an airplane?” William’s response was “airplane, oh gosh, airplane”. I’ve been telling him for WEEKS that we are going on a plane with uncle brian, never sure if he was listening or absorbing what I was saying. Clearly he hears EVERYTHING whether he responds or not. Another mental note here! He also knows we are flying to “cexas”…that boy is smarter than he knows!
I’ve discovered what his favorite outfit is right now. It’s his precious paw print overalls that I just ADORED when I bought them 2 years ago. That’s right, I bought them before he was born…that’s how much I love them! I refer them as his “puppy paw print pants” and he is coming along. They used to be called “pop” then “pop pant” and this morning he called them “paw pant pant” Pretty impressive! (wow that was a lot of P’s!) He wore them a week ago, cried everytime he saw them in his dirty clothes hamper, and today he happily wore them again. I will know, though, to throw them in the laundry room immediately after bedtime tonight so that we don’t have a daily lesson on the different between dirty clothes and clean clothes.
When I was home sick on Tuesday I was reading through old blogs and I read one from last fall when Kim and Jennifer were both so excited to tell me that William was the first baby ever to pick up the glitter ball. Do you remember that post? I believe it was in August of last year. Well, yesterday we walked in to say hi to both of his favorite ladies and he ran STRAIGHT to the toy shelf and found the glitter ball! Kim said “OH you found your ball! Did we ever tell you he is the only baby that could ever pick that ball up? He was such a muscle man!” It was too timely! I told them about how I had just stumbled across hat blog and smiled at the memory…time has really flown by and the faster it goes the happier I am that I started these weekly blog posts.
Earlier this week I was thinking about how happy I am that William won’t ever remember this year without his dada, when it hit me: that means he also won’t remember this wonderful year that we’ve had together. It broke my heart! He has been my ray of sunshine and the silver lining on all of my clouds, and it kills me that he won’t remember all of the fun that we’ve had. But at least I can somehow, someday, compile my weekly stories for him so that he can see what a wonderful year we’ve had. It would have been worlds better with dada, but it has been such a blessing for me – whether he will ever know or not.
- manda
Nov 15, 2011
Throw me a freaking bone
It's pretty likely that in my nearly 300 blog posts there is already one with this title. And if there is, it probably starts out explaining how it is one of my favorite phrases and I try to use it at any available opportunity. So, I won't go further into that!
On Sunday my mom asked me if the sermon was preached directly to me again. It would make 4 weeks in a row! 'no' I said, not this week. I though to myself: finally, one week off. I've been tested enough lately!
What. A. Fool.
The sermons are in an old testament series right now, and this week we visited David and Goliath. The preacher told the story, complete with a ladder that made himself as tall as Goliath, and he talked about how in all our other stories the people God used were scared and weak and seemed to be selected that way for a purpose. But David was different. David, unlike the countless people unwilling to face Goliath, looked at his problems through the eyes of faith rather than the eyes of fear. He then asked us how we will face the giants in our own lives. Will we see them through eyes filled with fear or will our eyes be full of faith, seeing something bigger and stronger standing behind the giant, waiting to defend us and keep us strong?
Well, my answer as of right now is through eyes of fear unfortunately. Yesterday nancy (Williams favorite animal and the most patient cat I've ever seen) had some lesions on her neck and ears and I was convinced she was going to have to be put to sleep. All morning I was preparing myself for a house with one less cat, and trying to find the inner strength to not burst into tears when William ran around the house calling 'neecie neecie!'.
Nancy is fine. She has some allergies of some sort, was scratching herself because she was so itchy, and she should be ok after some steroids and antibiotics.
Then yesterday I got word of the possibility that Austin may not be home until middle January. I suppose with the wonderful organization that the army uses anything is possible, and he could still make an appearance before Christmas. But when I heard mid January all I kept thinking was 'no way. No way. No way. I can not do this for another 60 days. It was supposed to be SIXTEEN more days, and I graciously accepted the first extension. But not this one. I can NOT do it. I'm turning in my bandana Rosie, I can't do it. You're a stronger woman than me'. Yes, really, I had all of those thoughts. There's a lot of room for mental conversation when you are the only person in the house.
Then I went to bed feeling nauseous and trying to convince myself I wasn't really sick. I can't have a stomach bug. Moms aren't supposed to get sick! At 1:00 in the morning I called my mom to ask her what to do with William. I didn't want to breathe on him, and I wasn't quite sure I'd be capable of making it to his school and back without a pit stop on the side of the road! I asked a friend in the neighborhood if she could take him but she had to be at work before Goddard opened, and by the time I got a response from her it was too late to ask the other people I had thought of. So when William woke up chattering away at 7:00 I got up too and we made our way to school. He was happy as ever and seemed unphased by my demeanor, so thats good. And so far, no calls saying he is sick. Fingers crossed.
In all 3 of these situations that arose the day after church - the day after a sermon that I felt was not speaking to me - I faced my giants with fear. I saw a dead cat. I saw myself jumping off a cliff at the thought of 60 more days of this. I saw myself hunched over in a ditch losing all my insides. Not once in all that time did I look at any one of those problems as David would have. David saw a 9 foot giant with weapons and power, but he was able to see that his God was bigger than all of that. Is my God not bigger than a few lesions on a cat? Or two more months of something I've already endured for 10? Or a small little bug eating away at my stomach?
He must be bigger. Surely he is. But not once did I see it that way. I didn't trust His hand in all of it, and I didn't have faith that He was in the middle.
So yes, the sermon was preaching to me. How silly of me to think I was already as strong as David.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
On Sunday my mom asked me if the sermon was preached directly to me again. It would make 4 weeks in a row! 'no' I said, not this week. I though to myself: finally, one week off. I've been tested enough lately!
What. A. Fool.
The sermons are in an old testament series right now, and this week we visited David and Goliath. The preacher told the story, complete with a ladder that made himself as tall as Goliath, and he talked about how in all our other stories the people God used were scared and weak and seemed to be selected that way for a purpose. But David was different. David, unlike the countless people unwilling to face Goliath, looked at his problems through the eyes of faith rather than the eyes of fear. He then asked us how we will face the giants in our own lives. Will we see them through eyes filled with fear or will our eyes be full of faith, seeing something bigger and stronger standing behind the giant, waiting to defend us and keep us strong?
Well, my answer as of right now is through eyes of fear unfortunately. Yesterday nancy (Williams favorite animal and the most patient cat I've ever seen) had some lesions on her neck and ears and I was convinced she was going to have to be put to sleep. All morning I was preparing myself for a house with one less cat, and trying to find the inner strength to not burst into tears when William ran around the house calling 'neecie neecie!'.
Nancy is fine. She has some allergies of some sort, was scratching herself because she was so itchy, and she should be ok after some steroids and antibiotics.
Then yesterday I got word of the possibility that Austin may not be home until middle January. I suppose with the wonderful organization that the army uses anything is possible, and he could still make an appearance before Christmas. But when I heard mid January all I kept thinking was 'no way. No way. No way. I can not do this for another 60 days. It was supposed to be SIXTEEN more days, and I graciously accepted the first extension. But not this one. I can NOT do it. I'm turning in my bandana Rosie, I can't do it. You're a stronger woman than me'. Yes, really, I had all of those thoughts. There's a lot of room for mental conversation when you are the only person in the house.
Then I went to bed feeling nauseous and trying to convince myself I wasn't really sick. I can't have a stomach bug. Moms aren't supposed to get sick! At 1:00 in the morning I called my mom to ask her what to do with William. I didn't want to breathe on him, and I wasn't quite sure I'd be capable of making it to his school and back without a pit stop on the side of the road! I asked a friend in the neighborhood if she could take him but she had to be at work before Goddard opened, and by the time I got a response from her it was too late to ask the other people I had thought of. So when William woke up chattering away at 7:00 I got up too and we made our way to school. He was happy as ever and seemed unphased by my demeanor, so thats good. And so far, no calls saying he is sick. Fingers crossed.
In all 3 of these situations that arose the day after church - the day after a sermon that I felt was not speaking to me - I faced my giants with fear. I saw a dead cat. I saw myself jumping off a cliff at the thought of 60 more days of this. I saw myself hunched over in a ditch losing all my insides. Not once in all that time did I look at any one of those problems as David would have. David saw a 9 foot giant with weapons and power, but he was able to see that his God was bigger than all of that. Is my God not bigger than a few lesions on a cat? Or two more months of something I've already endured for 10? Or a small little bug eating away at my stomach?
He must be bigger. Surely he is. But not once did I see it that way. I didn't trust His hand in all of it, and I didn't have faith that He was in the middle.
So yes, the sermon was preaching to me. How silly of me to think I was already as strong as David.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Nov 11, 2011
I like my bed.
I like my tempurpedic mattress. I like curling up in the blankets when it’s cold outside. I like waking up to the smell of coffee brewing downstairs. I like turning on the TV to see what the weather will be so I can decide what clothes to wear. I like deciding what clothes to wear! I like my heated leather seats warming my bum on the way to work, looking at the mountains and the beautiful sunrise as I slowly make my way in for my 8 hour work day.
I like being able to decide to leave my packed lunch in the fridge and go out with friends instead, or go shopping at the mall to grab a quick Christmas present. I like watching the clock inch closer and closer to quittin’ time then leaving my work at work and heading home.
I like my home.
I like watching my son grow.
These are a few, a very few, of the things in my daily life which I love. These are just a small fraction of the things that our service men/women have chosen to give up in the name of our country. In earlier wars men gave these things up for years upon years, never knowing when they’d get them again. Never knowing what their new baby looked like, not hearing of his latest ailment until 3 weeks after it was over; not knowing how old he’d be or what his voice or laugh would sound like when daddy would return home. In the current war they give these things up, come back to them and reacquaint themselves, and then all too soon they strap on their packs and give it all up again.
Wives leave them. Kids don’t always know them. People don’t know how to treat them. But they do it anyway. They come back different people than they were when they left. They can’t explain it, and they are unable to connect with many people on so many of the struggles they’ve endured. Their lives are forever changed, most often tainted, and yet they still stand, salute, and vow to serve.
I don’t know what it is like to live in a country where war and famine and persecution of great magnitude exist every day. And it’s because of the sacrifices of a group of elite people that I will never know these things. It is because there are people who hear a calling and answer it, regardless of what they will have to give up in order to do so.
I am so proud to be a granddaughter, stepdaughter, sister, cousin, and wife of men who have answered this call, and I am so proud to honor them as well as the people who have suited up next to them. I am eternally thankful for the life I’ve been blessed with, and part of that blessing has come at their expense. There is no way I can repay them, but they do not ask for repayment of any kind.
Happy Veteran’s day – to our past, present, and future veterans. Thanks for all you do.
- manda
I like being able to decide to leave my packed lunch in the fridge and go out with friends instead, or go shopping at the mall to grab a quick Christmas present. I like watching the clock inch closer and closer to quittin’ time then leaving my work at work and heading home.
I like my home.
I like watching my son grow.
These are a few, a very few, of the things in my daily life which I love. These are just a small fraction of the things that our service men/women have chosen to give up in the name of our country. In earlier wars men gave these things up for years upon years, never knowing when they’d get them again. Never knowing what their new baby looked like, not hearing of his latest ailment until 3 weeks after it was over; not knowing how old he’d be or what his voice or laugh would sound like when daddy would return home. In the current war they give these things up, come back to them and reacquaint themselves, and then all too soon they strap on their packs and give it all up again.
Wives leave them. Kids don’t always know them. People don’t know how to treat them. But they do it anyway. They come back different people than they were when they left. They can’t explain it, and they are unable to connect with many people on so many of the struggles they’ve endured. Their lives are forever changed, most often tainted, and yet they still stand, salute, and vow to serve.
I don’t know what it is like to live in a country where war and famine and persecution of great magnitude exist every day. And it’s because of the sacrifices of a group of elite people that I will never know these things. It is because there are people who hear a calling and answer it, regardless of what they will have to give up in order to do so.
I am so proud to be a granddaughter, stepdaughter, sister, cousin, and wife of men who have answered this call, and I am so proud to honor them as well as the people who have suited up next to them. I am eternally thankful for the life I’ve been blessed with, and part of that blessing has come at their expense. There is no way I can repay them, but they do not ask for repayment of any kind.
Happy Veteran’s day – to our past, present, and future veterans. Thanks for all you do.
- manda
Nov 9, 2011
William Wednesday William Wednesday
There, I’ve made up for missing last week by naming this week twice. I’ve just had too much to write about lately, I need to be a professional blogger! AH, another topic: My new career plan (err dream). But let’s not let me get side tracked here.
William!!!
I don’t even know where to begin, but that’s partially because I don’t remember where I left off! I told Austin last night that it seems like there’s something new every day, and it really does. Makes it hard to keep up. Since the last time I wrote we:
Went to fall festival at his school
Went to a massively large and fun Halloween party at my boss’s house
Watched football with “oh gosh” and referred to him as such for the first time in front of him
Went to fall festival at church
Learned to say the name of his first baby cousin, Baby Jelli (Kelli…he’ll get it someday…)
Had another snow storm that mommy didn’t let him play in thanks to her morning argument with said snow
Went to craft night
Collectively played mission organization in our friend’s kitchen (yes, William was quite the helper! He is my son)
Had an amazing Sunday to include a visit from oh gosh, Cici, and a Texans win!
And a hundred things in between!!!
His focus lately has been on his colors. Two weeks ago I believe I wrote that he knew orange, yellow and green. Now you can add to that brown, purple, red, blue and black…and he knows white but only in association with snow. Last night he had a game going with Cici and mommy – he’d bring his 5 plastic colored balls to one of us, we’d throw them across the room, and he’d run around excitedly gathering them all and shouting out their colors. If I had a recorder, this is what you may have heard: “reeen, arnge, ellow, reeeen, ahhhhhhh, hahahaha, reeen, red, ahhh, ellow, hahahahaha, poople…” and so on. I hope you can read toddler-talk…that’s “green, orange, yellow…..purple…” He also amazed me with his motor skills as he would hold one ball in each hand then maneuver a way to grab a third. He would either prop the third ball between the two he was already holding, stretch one hand around two balls, or use his leg and stomach as a staple to roll a third ball up towards his arms. I’m amazed at how well he figured it out without getting frustrated with himself.
He also seems to be getting more interested and prepared for the potty. The downside to that is that 3 nights in the last week he has taken his diaper off when he’s thought it needed changing. Only once was it a dirty diaper…but still, soiled linens in the morning isn’t exactly what I want to deal with. It isn’t part of our daily schedule you know
His fall festival at school was a lot of fun. They had a parade around the circle in the library parking lot, then a trunk or treat in the school parking lot, and then back inside all of the rooms were full of different activities. There was a goldfish game (we passed on that – I don’t need to deal with dead fish right now), a balloon animal artist (who was slower than molasses…he must not know much about toddlers attention spans and patience levels), a craft station, a carnival game room, and a reptile room. The reptile room is where we spent most of our time…William loved the snakes! “ellow nake” he kept saying. The yellow snake he spoke of…it weighed in at a whopping 300 pounds! I am surprised I even let him play J There were two large snakes, a couple little reptiles that creeped me out, and a 150 pound turtle that was a little too intimidating for William. But we had fun in the room!
His love for our pets has continued to grow, and they all seem to be slowly adjusting to the affection. Nancy is incredibly patient. People often try to quickly grab him when they see he’s getting ready to lay on her, and they may wonder why I am so apathetic about it. But then they see that Nancy just lays there and takes the abuse. She has never fought back and if she gets overly annoyed she knows to leave. Layla doesn’t LOVE the extra attention when it includes being climbed on, but she plays along and behaves. All the while staring at me with a look that either says “please save me” or “I swear you’ll pay for this later” – I can’t quite tell, but part of me thinks her tortilla eating has something to do with it.
Oh – and I almost forgot – my almost 2 year old has decided he needs to be completely independent at breakfast. If independent includes me pouring milk into a cup that he mentally knows he doesn’t want but verbally can’t communicate. And if independent includes me handing over the entire kitchen’s edible allotment and allowing him to create his own delicious concoction. OK, so not independent at all really – just opinionated. One morning he had cereal and pancakes and milk and syrup. All in one bowl. And another morning he poured his eggs and sausage into his chocolate milk. Scratch that, into MY chocolate milk that I quickly surrendered. He ate it all in all its milk-dripping disgusting glory, so I can’t complain that he’s picky. He just likes to create things that no one else in their right might would eat. I told Austin I felt like my son was Buddy the Elf...and really I do! Ick. The most frustrating part is that I don’t know exactly what he wants, and he doesn’t understand why I don’t know exactly what he wants. Why doesn’t mommy know that when I say milk I want chocolate milk? And I don’t want a sippy cup I want it in HER cup and I want my eggs in it. Is it THAT hard of a concept?
SO, as in most relationships it looks like what we have here is a failure to communicate. But we’re getting there. And it’s a fun filled journey along the way! I’m doing the “30 days of thankfulness” on facebook but every morning I have to force myself NOT to repeat that I am thankful for William Timothy Wallis. He is the most amazing thing in the world and I can’t help but feel pity for all those other silly parents who think that THEY have the most amazing kids in the world. Ignorance is bliss I suppose, and at least I know the truth!!!
- manda
William!!!
I don’t even know where to begin, but that’s partially because I don’t remember where I left off! I told Austin last night that it seems like there’s something new every day, and it really does. Makes it hard to keep up. Since the last time I wrote we:
Went to fall festival at his school
Went to a massively large and fun Halloween party at my boss’s house
Watched football with “oh gosh” and referred to him as such for the first time in front of him
Went to fall festival at church
Learned to say the name of his first baby cousin, Baby Jelli (Kelli…he’ll get it someday…)
Had another snow storm that mommy didn’t let him play in thanks to her morning argument with said snow
Went to craft night
Collectively played mission organization in our friend’s kitchen (yes, William was quite the helper! He is my son)
Had an amazing Sunday to include a visit from oh gosh, Cici, and a Texans win!
And a hundred things in between!!!
His focus lately has been on his colors. Two weeks ago I believe I wrote that he knew orange, yellow and green. Now you can add to that brown, purple, red, blue and black…and he knows white but only in association with snow. Last night he had a game going with Cici and mommy – he’d bring his 5 plastic colored balls to one of us, we’d throw them across the room, and he’d run around excitedly gathering them all and shouting out their colors. If I had a recorder, this is what you may have heard: “reeen, arnge, ellow, reeeen, ahhhhhhh, hahahaha, reeen, red, ahhh, ellow, hahahahaha, poople…” and so on. I hope you can read toddler-talk…that’s “green, orange, yellow…..purple…” He also amazed me with his motor skills as he would hold one ball in each hand then maneuver a way to grab a third. He would either prop the third ball between the two he was already holding, stretch one hand around two balls, or use his leg and stomach as a staple to roll a third ball up towards his arms. I’m amazed at how well he figured it out without getting frustrated with himself.
He also seems to be getting more interested and prepared for the potty. The downside to that is that 3 nights in the last week he has taken his diaper off when he’s thought it needed changing. Only once was it a dirty diaper…but still, soiled linens in the morning isn’t exactly what I want to deal with. It isn’t part of our daily schedule you know
His fall festival at school was a lot of fun. They had a parade around the circle in the library parking lot, then a trunk or treat in the school parking lot, and then back inside all of the rooms were full of different activities. There was a goldfish game (we passed on that – I don’t need to deal with dead fish right now), a balloon animal artist (who was slower than molasses…he must not know much about toddlers attention spans and patience levels), a craft station, a carnival game room, and a reptile room. The reptile room is where we spent most of our time…William loved the snakes! “ellow nake” he kept saying. The yellow snake he spoke of…it weighed in at a whopping 300 pounds! I am surprised I even let him play J There were two large snakes, a couple little reptiles that creeped me out, and a 150 pound turtle that was a little too intimidating for William. But we had fun in the room!
His love for our pets has continued to grow, and they all seem to be slowly adjusting to the affection. Nancy is incredibly patient. People often try to quickly grab him when they see he’s getting ready to lay on her, and they may wonder why I am so apathetic about it. But then they see that Nancy just lays there and takes the abuse. She has never fought back and if she gets overly annoyed she knows to leave. Layla doesn’t LOVE the extra attention when it includes being climbed on, but she plays along and behaves. All the while staring at me with a look that either says “please save me” or “I swear you’ll pay for this later” – I can’t quite tell, but part of me thinks her tortilla eating has something to do with it.
Oh – and I almost forgot – my almost 2 year old has decided he needs to be completely independent at breakfast. If independent includes me pouring milk into a cup that he mentally knows he doesn’t want but verbally can’t communicate. And if independent includes me handing over the entire kitchen’s edible allotment and allowing him to create his own delicious concoction. OK, so not independent at all really – just opinionated. One morning he had cereal and pancakes and milk and syrup. All in one bowl. And another morning he poured his eggs and sausage into his chocolate milk. Scratch that, into MY chocolate milk that I quickly surrendered. He ate it all in all its milk-dripping disgusting glory, so I can’t complain that he’s picky. He just likes to create things that no one else in their right might would eat. I told Austin I felt like my son was Buddy the Elf...and really I do! Ick. The most frustrating part is that I don’t know exactly what he wants, and he doesn’t understand why I don’t know exactly what he wants. Why doesn’t mommy know that when I say milk I want chocolate milk? And I don’t want a sippy cup I want it in HER cup and I want my eggs in it. Is it THAT hard of a concept?
SO, as in most relationships it looks like what we have here is a failure to communicate. But we’re getting there. And it’s a fun filled journey along the way! I’m doing the “30 days of thankfulness” on facebook but every morning I have to force myself NOT to repeat that I am thankful for William Timothy Wallis. He is the most amazing thing in the world and I can’t help but feel pity for all those other silly parents who think that THEY have the most amazing kids in the world. Ignorance is bliss I suppose, and at least I know the truth!!!
- manda
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