I'm so happy to announce that I finally have my camera back! A sensor had gone out in the power switch soooo... I had to mail it to the repair center to be fixed. It seemed like forever but my beloved camera has finally made her way back home.
I took this picture, of my 4 year old son, playing basketball in our driveway. He really is pretty good!
September was a busy month. There were birthdays, packing, unpacking, remodeling, and decorating the new house. It seems the last month has been one full of change and with that change comes a feeling of loss.
Both of my boys have their birthday in September. On each of their special days all I could think about was that it wouldn't always be like this. Before we know it, they won't want to hang with dear old mom and dad on their birthday. Soon it will be all about their friends. Soon after, it will be about girls, cars, and "getting out of this town." I realized that each birthday is another year closer I am to facing the day that my little boys leave home. sniff sniff So as we celebrated with cake and ice cream, presents, and songs. I made sure that I held on to this memory because a part of me realizes that it won't be like this for long.
The month of September also brought us something else to celebrate. We bought our first home. With this came the packing, unpacking, painting, and more. Though we are thrilled to finally be home owners, it was a bitter sweet goodbye I said to the other house. Our little rental that the kids and I lived in, while James was deployed, stores a lot of memories. It was in that house that I had to find the strength to do things alone. It was in that house, that a new part of me was born. I felt a little sad as I took one last look out the kitchen window because that is where I would often stand and watch the boys play in the backyard. I can hear their laughter echo in my mind. Yes, I will miss that run down old rental.... but I smile at the thought of all the new memories we are about to start making in OUR home. I look back and see all that we accomplished in the past 2 years and I know that this is going to be amazing.
So I guess it's time to move forward.... but I will always look back.... because behind me are some of the most beautiful memories and if I don't take the time to relive them.... they could be lost forever. I hope that each day we may all hear the echos of laughter from our past.
Yesterday, we took the boys to the water park. We had such a great time together. I took a couple of pictures and wanted to share with you all. These were taken with my husband's camera as mine is currently in in the shop. :(
The air is filled with the sound of cheers and a marching band. A young and beautiful woman is pushing through the crowd, desperately searching for her love. All the while, he's doing the same thing. It seems as though the search will go on forever when suddenly, they lock eyes. At that very moment, all the noise that filled the air, is replaced with the sound of a symphony. With their eyes locked on one another, the handsome soldier and beautiful young woman walk towards each other and she is now in his arms. As they begin to kiss, a soft breeze begins to blow, gently pushing her hair away from her face. Ahhhh... I do love a good romantic story.
As you know, my husband recently returned home from a 14 month deployment to Iraq. He came home on his mid-tour leave in October, then it was another 10 months before we saw him again. As it got closer for his return, I often thought about his homecoming and how it would be. Being a hopeless romantic, I always thought about the paragraph above. I have since discovered the ugly truth.
I had been tearing up all morning, my face was swollen, my stomach was in knots, I was going to the bathroom every 5 minutes, and to top things off I felt like I was on the verge of a panic attack.
Looking around the gym, you could clearly tell you were sitting in a room full of sexually deprived women. Honestly, the first two things that come to your mind after not seeing your husband for 10 months are sex and a break from the kids. Just being honest here. ;0)
After what seemed like an eternity, the moment was finally here. Our husbands, sons, daddies, and grandsons came running into the gym! - and there they stood.
It was now time for the moment I had been thinking about for so long. Other people rushed down to the center of the gym. I stood on the bleachers unable to go down, holding my 1 year old with one hand and my 3 year old's hand with the other. Crying, I watched as my husband made his way towards us. My nose began to run and before I could do anything about it he was standing in front of me. Forgetting that I had told him to grab the kids first, just in case I fainted, I leaned in for a kiss... just as he bent down to pick up our 3 year old. He then stood up and received the most disgusting kiss a person could imagine. Two words, snot and tears.
So my friends, just a friendly reminder that a fantasy is always nice but sooner or later you will experience the ugly truth.
Welcome Home Troops!!!
Hey all! I know it's been a while. Things have been crazy around here. We've got about 2 weeks until my amazing husband returns from Iraq and I've been very busy trying to get everything ready for him. One of the things that was on my list was to find a second family dog.
We have a Beagle who is just the sweetest little girl. She's very quiet and afraid of everything! So we decided that we needed a bigger dog who was a bit more "intimidating" to balance things in our household. :o)
We decided on a German Shepherd. His name is Barley and he's 7 weeks old.
The past couple weeks have been a little rough. It seems like every time I try to catch my breath, something else happens. It all started a couple weeks ago when my youngest got sick. Since then, we've all had our turn. I'm trying to look at the glass as half full, trying hard!
After Mason started to improve, Kemper got a bug. I took him to the doctor because he was running a temp at 103 d
egrees and I couldn't get his fever to break. They did a flu test, which came back negative, and gave him a prescription for antibiotics and cough medicine. Looking at the glass half full, I said to myself, "I'm so happy his flu test was negative."
He was about halfway through his antibiotics when the diarrhea kicked in. As I sat there scrubbing the carpet, I thought to myself, "I am so happy his fever finally broke."
A few days passed and I noticed my eyes were itchy. Then they started to ooze. Eww! I called the doctors office and they were able to get me in 30 minutes later. Looking at the glass half full, I thought to myself, " I am so lucky to be able to get in to the doctor so soon."
Later that day, we went to pick up my prescription. As I stood there with two screaming kids, waiting to pay, I was informed that they didn't have the eye drops and that it would be a little longer while they called the doctor. 30 minutes later, two kids still screaming, I picked up my prescription. As I paid, I thought of the glass as half full. "I am so fortunate that they had this other prescription in stock."
It is now 3 days later. This is the last day for my eye drops. However, there is one small problem. The drops have not worked. I called the doctors office to see what I should do. They called in a prescription for a stronger eye drop. Struggling to look at the glass as half full, I thought to myself, "I'm so happy that they called in prescription rather than have me come back for a second appointment."
I will close with this one last thought of a half full glass. "Maybe I should throw this one out, and get a fresh glass!"
Something happened yesterday that has me a little shaken up. My youngest son, Mason, has cough that just doesn't seem to be getting better. I took him to the doctor and was given a prescription for cough syrup. We dropped it off at the pharmacy on our way home. No big deal, right?
We ate dinner and then went back to pick up the prescription. The lady at the counter explained the medicine and went over the dosage with me. Pretty standard... She was saying that the cough medicine was pretty strong because it has Codeine in it, so I should use it as little as possible. One problem. The dose that was put on my sons prescription said that he should have 1 1/4 teaspoons.
I questioned her about the dosage and she took a second look. She came back and proceeded to tell me that there was an "error" and that the correct dose, for my 20 month old son, is 1/4 teaspoon.
I sat there in shock. Even now, I keep playing the "what if's" through my mind.
If I hadn't questioned her about the dose. I would have come home and given him 4 times the amount that his little body could handle. My baby would probably have died in his sleep.
I want to let you know that she did pull out the prescription again and it was not an error on the doctors part. He had written the correct dose.
So for my realization. I feel like this is a wake up call. You see things like this on the news all the time. As a parent, I can not assume that what's on the label is always correct. It's my job to double check EVERYTHING. The truth is that people DO make mistakes. Thank God this one was caught before something terrible happened.
I can say this. I will not be so naive in the future.
