Not Quite but Almost!

Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl!!!

12 hours of labor and then an emergency c-section and we had our healthy little girl.

6 lbs 5 oz

20.5 inches

ten fingers and ten toes!

You have been such a blessing. You are a good eater and a fantastic sleeper.

You have a very LOVING big brother...

 Just 1 week after you were born, you had your first visitor.

Grandma!

 

 We have shared many firsts this year: smiles, baths, foods, crawling and now walking & talking. Nothing can replace this year but we are sure looking forward to the next.

 

 

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY MAKAYLA GRACE!

 

Military "In-Dependent"

This is something that a friend of mine tagged me in on Facebook. However I feel this is worthy of sharing with all of you. Here is a small glimpse into the life of a military spouse.

Military "In-Dependent"

Each one may look different and each is wonderfully unique, But this we have in common:

Lots of moving...
Moving...
Moving...
Moving far from home...
Moving two cars, three kids and one dog...all riding with HER of course.
Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house; Moving curtains that won't fit; Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours.
Moving away from friends;
Moving toward new friends;
Moving her most important luggage: her trunk full of memories.

Often waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting for housing.
Waiting for orders.
Waiting for deployments.
Waiting for phone calls.
Waiting for reunions.
Waiting for the new curtains to arrive.
Waiting for him to come home,
For dinner...AGAIN!

They call her 'Military Dependent', but she knows better:
She is fiercely In-Dependent.

She can balance a check book;
Handle the yard work;
Fix a noisy toilet;
Bury the family pet...

She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts.
She can file the taxes;
Sell a house;
Buy a car;
Or set up a move...
.....all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.
She reinvents her career with every PCS; Locates a house in the desert, The Arctic, Or the deep south.
And learns to call them all 'home'.
She MAKES them all home.

Military Wives are somewhat hasty...
They leap into:
Decorating,
Leadership,
Volunteering,
Career alternatives,
Churches,
And friendships.
They don't have 15 years to get to know people.
Their roots are short but flexible.
They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other:
They connect over coffee,
Rely on the spouse network,
Accept offers of friendship and favors.
Record addresses in pencil...

Military Wives have a common bond:
The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands; his commitment is unique.
He doesn't have a 'JOB'
He has a 'MISSION' that he can't just decide to quit...
He's on-call for his country 24/7.
But for her, he's the most unreliable guy in town!
His language is foreign
TDY
PCS
OPR
SOS
ACC
BDU
ACU
BAR
CIB
TAD
And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.
She is the long- distance link to keep them informed; the glue that holds them together.

A Military Wife has her moments:
She wants to wring his neck;
Dye his uniform pink;
Refuse to move to Siberia;
But she pulls herself together.
Give her a few days,
A travel brochure,
A long hot bath,
A pledge to the flag,
A wedding picture,
And she goes.
She packs.
She moves.
She follows.

Why?
What for?
How come?
You may think it is because she has lost her mind.
But actually it is because she has a HEART and a love for her husband,
Who puts duty first,
Who longs to deploy,
Who salutes the flag,
And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military Husband, She will remain his military wife.
And would have it no other way.

WordFUL Wednesday-Official yet still very Unofficial!

So Monday afternoon Joe came home saying something about good news and bad news. To a tired mom that sounds a lot like blah, blah, blah. 

I collected myself and said what are you talking about?

Which he proceeded to say, "we need to buy some stock in Coppertone." Once again, huh? Then all of a sudden it hit me...WE ARE MOVING TO FLORIDA!

To catch you all up, this process started about 2 months ago. Joe found out that we were coming up on the VML (vulnerable to move list) so we need to make a preference list and turn it in the next day to his boss. And so we made our list 1) Eglin AFB, Ft Walton Beach, 2) Naval Air Station Pensacola, 3) Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. After he submitted our list, we were told not to expect to hear anything until about the end of the year. So we filed everything away in the not currently important file in our brains.

So you can only imagine our SHOCK when we were told we should be expecting to move at the end of May 2010. Now for some bad news...looks like it might not be a flying job as of right now. So please join us in prayer for it to become a flying job. His commander is currently working to see if this can get changed. But still we know that my God is big and we have put our faith in Him to go before us and make our way.

We are very excited but we also know that this is the military and we are not currently holding orders, so we are still guarding ourselves and our excitement. If this be where God wants us, then bring on the orders and hold on to your hats because they're going to be blown off with excitement!

Spoiled?

Ok, so I might be getting used to Joe being gone. Used to it does not mean that I like it!

But this is the second Friday in a row that someone has rang my doorbell to deliver me BEAUTIFUL flowers. It totally reminds me of when we were dating. He used to send me flowers at work or pick me up with some.

Just had to share ;)

 

I have had a great time while he has been gone but I am very happy to have him home tonight!

It's Official

We have our first snow that has stuck around! Yes, I did check the date and it is October 14th! Sadly, I did break out the snow shovel this morning to clear the driveway. Only for it to start snowing again. Oh, the irony!

We got about a half inch last night and we are expecting another half inch today and tonight. Who know how much we will actually get before this storm passes!

I guess I will go on with some brighter news in just 14 days we will be leaving the frozen tundra for much warmer weather. We are heading down to Florida to spend a week at Disney. While we are there we will be celebrating Makayla's 1st Birthday as well as our 7th wedding anniversary! 

 

One more thing, Joe comes home Friday night! YAY!!! We are getting very excited not just me, who is now really tired of being both Mom and Dad but also Josiah and Makayla. Josiah is sooo excited he just wants to go to bed and make Friday come sooner. Makayla is becoming a little walker and I can't wait to see her walk to Daddy Friday.

Ok, seriously last thing...check out these pictures I just found of Josiah and Libby. We were soooo cute!

 

Hearts

So last night when it was time for our bedtime prayer, Josiah decided to deviate from his usually prayer. And here is what was prayed...

Dear God,

Please keep the deer safe.
Please keep Daddy safe. 
Thank you for us.
And please keep us safe.

Amen

I am pretty sure that he will never forget about the "Deer Incident of 2009."

Like Father, Like Son

I love this picture of the boys!

By the way here is our new car. Sadly we laid our "blue car" to rest after the deer incident of 2009. 

Mask or No Mask?

So I ask you, mask or no mask? Are you scratching your head, yet?

Tonight in OCF we started our new study, TrueFaced. Hope you are intrigued because I am and so far I am loving this study. Go here to listen to a clip.


So I ask again are you ready to take off your mask and join me on my journey in the "Room of Grace"?

For the next eight weeks me and my fellow OCFers will be venturing into a new place, one where most have not journeyed. This we pray will open our group up to be sensitive and real when we are hurting and not mask our pain because its the thing to do.

I ask that you please pray for us as we are attempting new things: we have changed locations, changed our format and we are adding new people every week. God is so faithful and we are seeing that here in Minot.

Please take a minute or 45 if you listen to the whole message, its really worth it. And I ask again mask or no mask?

Just Because

Just the other day I looked out my car window and saw this...

 Hope this made you smile, too!

A Little EXCITED!

Josiah and I are heading out on a little date to see this...

 

In 3D!!!