The Mister has been gone for 4 months. I'm relieved that so much time has passed already. 121 days gone. 244 days until he comes home. 15 days until our 3 year anniversary, 31 days until my baby turns one, and 116 days until my other baby is 3. Breaking things down into events makes it easier. I just have to make it to our anniversary. Then to Little Miss's birthday, then Lous, and so on and so forth. It actually cheers me up to think of it this way.
We had a blast at the zoo today. We finally got home around 2:30 this afternoon and everyone napped until 5.
Lou has been such a big girl today. She woke up this morning with a dry diaper, so I put her on the potty and she tinkled in the potty! She's tinkled in the potty three times today. Once at the zoo, even. I'm so very proud of her.
So, on to the good stuff. Here's a list of the new photos. And yes, there are some of me in there. Better get your blinders out!
My sister and I and our four kiddos are going to the Oklahoma City Zoo tomorrow. I am so excited. It's been quite some time since I've been, and they've added several new things since then. Pictures will be abundant. As I mentioned before, Saturday my mom and I are going yard selling. On Sunday, The Mister's parents are taking us to the circus! Aside from the clowns, I know I'll enjoy it. I've got a thing about clowns and carnies. It's going to be a busy few days for us, but it certainly helps to pass the time. I left my extra camera battery and the battery charger at my grandma's house last weekend. I hope the camera will make it through tomorrow and the circus. Grandma, if you're reading this, could ya overnight it to me? I'll pay ya back! I don't know how I ever lived without my camera.
Cassandra (my sis) and I were outside with the kiddos today and there were a lot of planes flying overhead. Lou gets excited about planes. I told her, "Look Lou! Daddy talks to planes!" (He's an air traffic controller.) She turned to me and said, "No, mommy. He's the Marines!". So precious. And the best part is, I caught it on video! I hardly ever get the camcorder out, and I'm so glad I did this evening. I know The Mister will enjoy it. Alright, I'm off to bed to get some good sleep in before we head off to the zoo for our fun-filled day of dolphins and monkeys. Big ones.
We heard from The Mister today. It had been a week since we heard from him last. It was nice to hear his voice even if it was only for 6 minutes. Little Miss was up when he called me early this morning. She was whistling. My 11 month old can whistle. It's so odd. She just puckers up and blows until she does it, then she gets all excited about it.
I've been feeling extremely guilty lately. I feel like it is wrong of me to be so thankful that The Mister isn't in the big sandbox. I hope he doesn't have to go.
I can't seem to turn the television off. I can't even watch a senseless show. The news is on every channel. I'm going to go for a walk. Then I'm going to put in a DVD and see how long I can watch it before I am inevitably drawn back to the news.
I installed a neat little toy. It's called micropoll. Wee! Do you think this is cool?
*Edited: Okay it isn't working. Crap. What did I do wrong this time?
*Edited again: It works! Go grab the micropoll for yourself. Thanks so much to Rick for helping me get it set up.
We got back from my grandparents' house late last night. We hadn't intended to come back so late, but my great aunt had a stroke yesterday morning. Other than that, our trip was lots of fun. The girls and I are going to go back on Thursday and stay for several days. Nothing too exciting going on today. It's raceday of course. Now to unpack.
It's not over, though. Lou woke up this morning crying. She didn't stop for over an hour. I asked her what was wrong and she told me her ear was hurting. So off to the base clinic we go. Which is another story all in itself. I know you other military wives know what I'm talking about. Needless to say it was a stressful morning. Lou has an ear infection in her right ear and she's terribly cranky. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though.
Cassandra and I had a blast last night watching movies until we couldn't hold our eyes open any longer. The kids were all good and let us watch movies in peace and went to bed at a totally decent hour. Tonight, it's just me and the girls. Little Miss is already in bed and Lou will join her soon. Then I'm going to watch The Ring because it's due tomorrow at noon.
Just a super quick hello to everyone. We're still alive and recovering quite nicely from the girls being sick. We went to the park today and had a lovely time. I've got some super cute pictures of Little Miss swinging and Lou playing. I'll get them up later tonight. Cassandra (my sister) and I are going to watch movies all night tonight. We rented some really good ones. I've got a Blockbuster gold card so every time I rent one movie I get another non-new release free. We ended up with six movies. We got The Ring, I Spy, 1 Hour Photo, Practical Magic, Hope Floats, and The Story of Us (which makes me cry every time I see it!). I'll get those pictures up soon!
My girls are sick! I feel so sorry for them. They're coughing and running fevers and I can't seem to get them to go away (the fevers, not the girls). And it's Sunday which means I can't do anything about it until tomorrow unless there is an urgent care clinic open today. I'm glad they're both sick at the same time. Even though it makes it harder on me, at least they aren't going to pass it to the other one. Now we'll just hope that I don't get it.
It's Thursday night. My favorite night for television. It is NOT okay to call me during this time. I will answer the phone, but if it isn't an emergency, I will be very upset. I might be forced to come to your house (after my shows are over of course) and hit you in the knees with a crowbar ala Tonya Harding's henchman. So if you aren't bleeding to death, just don't do it. On another note...
There must be a giant target painted on my car. Or maybe it's a sign. Perhaps there's a little elf sitting up there screaming, "Please scare this chick by trying to run her off the road!". Yeah, it has to be one of those.
I had to make a late night trip to Wal-Mart last night. I wasn't paying attention and needed to get some diapers for Lou. Funny how the baby section is right next to the DVD's. We ended up buying the new Spongebob DVD that came out earlier this week. At least there weren't any of the $5 DVD's worthy of purchasing.
I think it's all starting to get to me. It's hard to be responsible for the bills, the children, the upkeep of the house, and taking care of the car. Add all of that to the worrying about The Mister, and it sometimes feels like more than I can handle. Even though it's been three months, I still roll over in the middle of the night to throw my arm over J and I'm surprised every time he isn't there.
Lou woke up in the middle of the night last night. She cried for her Daddy. I couldn't do anything to comfort her. She finally fell asleep, worn out from all of her tears. I try not to think about what J is missing in Little Miss's life. When I do, it breaks my heart. He isn't here to see how beautiful she is in person. Pictures hardly do that baby justice, but it's all he gets. She turns one in less than two months. J will miss it. He'll miss her first steps. He will miss so many things.
We miss him, but we know he's doing a wonderful thing. He is protecting the rights that those before us fought so hard to get. If everyone were half as patriotic as J was, there would never have been a need for drafting. As for me, there's a certain je ne sais pas about being the wife of a Marine. I'm proud of it, and I'm proud of him.
I've put several new photos on the photolog. I hope you all enjoy the photos.
The sun has finally returned. I think it's been over a week since I've seen it. It certainly helps me not feel so blah. I'm going to go pick up my little sister from school, and then I am going to go take some pictures of a little strip mall right across from the base that they're about to tear down. I'm a bit sad to see it go. Ah, well. Onward and upward.
On another note, the insurance company sent someone out today to look at the car seats, take pictures, and hopefully get the ball rolling to get those bad boys paid for! I had to go ahead and buy new seats. I just couldn't stand being at home any longer. I took the girls to their great grammy's this weekend and they had a blast. I went shopping with mom and got two great teapots for my collection at the thrift store. I'll have to post some pictures later.
The last lap. The last stinking lap! Grrr! I think if I were Sterling Marlin, I would have hurried my butt off of the track as fast as I could, too.
I was wondering why I had so many visitors lately. I'm on MSNBC along with several other military family bloggers. Very neat! Go check out the article here. Hi to all of my visitors from MSNBC!