http://www.bornagainamerican.org/

I love this website! It is about being American and getting back to what our country was built on. I especially LOVED the part of the website where you can directly send an email to your represenatives, Congressmen, and the President. You type your message and zip. The site sends your message to the people who represent you! I love it and will continue to send messages!

href="http://www.bornagainamerican.org/ ">


As a wife to a Marine, sister to a Marine and sister to an Army National Guardsman who is in Iraq; this website was meaningful.

Hope you click and let your voice be heard!

SC

We are living in SC now. After a very crazy month and 1/2, we are here and getting settled. You would be amazed at how well things have gone and how supportive people have been. Lets start with our trip to KS in Dec.

My mom was amazing. She had everything we could need for a baby. She was doting on her baby grandaughter and I even got to go out with my friends Pam and Annie (bestest friends from college). And I got to go to a movie by myself. Mom was such a joy to be with and we had a great visit. While in KS, we visited our Missouri family. They were incredible too. My step-grandparents made our lives easy. They drove us around and hung out with the kids. L got to meet Aunt Brenda and her crew. L got to meet great-grandma and other relatives. L got to meet adopted Aunt Pam and Aunt Annie. So we were thrilled with our trip and so blessed!

Then we went home for a day and flew to Bermuda. A wonderful friend of my in-laws had a place for us to stay. My MIL had toys, car seat, pack & play and a few more extras all set up for us. She made that trip easy as well. Matthew and I got some time alone and some time with other grown ups! We rode horses on the beach, had some rum swizzles, and spent lots of time with the whole Bermuda family.

Then we came home to finish packing our house. Matthew left on the 22nd and I was alone with the infant who pooped on the only sheet for my bed, threw up on the only sheet for her bed and was all around crying and fussing. That experience affirmed that we made the right decision to move to SC to get help!

L and I drove to Quantico on Friday Jan. 30 after checking out of the apartment...pause. The friends we had from Piutman Church of Christ were amazing beyond words. They helped clean up, straighten up and babysit while I closed out the apartment. Then several of us went to lunch right before L and I hit the road. It was hard to say goodbye.

Pitman. Our family and our marriage are stronger because of your support during the last year. You have met every need we had while experiencing life on recruiting duty with a newborn. Though this time has been the hardest in our marriage, we never waivered because God was with us. God was with us through you. Thank you and I don't know if you truly know how grateful we are for you. I will leave my thanks at this since I am not a writer. Know we love you and God blessed us because of you. We hope that we can pass the blessings onto the people we meet from here on out.

The mom with the twins...you know who you are...I will miss you so much! You have been a literal God-send since we were living in NJ. You and your husband took me in during all the time Matthew was away. You loved on me and have guidied me in having a better Christian life. Thank you! I love you and will see you soon. This is a practise good bye since we haven't had a real one, that might be too hard. July will be when my heart breaks for leaving you.

We saw Matthew become a Warrant Officer on Monday. Tears poured down my face...not so much for the promotion as that we were off of recruiting. I do not wish that job on anyone! So Matthew is in training for his dream job and we give God glory every day for the change in our lives from recruiting.

We pulled into SC last night and I felt a wave of relief and exhaustion set in. I am so happy to be here with my little brother and sister. I am so glad to be here where I have support in the house from my dad and R. And I get lots of time with them and get to help out with my brother and sister! I praise God for the blessings we have and the travel and experiences of the last month!

Oh...we have official word we go to Japan next! So we open a new chapter to the book we are writing and look forward with excitement. We will be stationed on the same base as my brother so the blessing of having family around will continue!

Off to unpack. If you are reading this, you have become a friend and I thank you for you love and prayers. We are joyful to close the door on this past year (can you tell recruiting was hard and we are glad to be out) yet mourn the changes in the relationships of the friends and family we have become close to while living in NJ.

By the way...NJ family (twins' family included)...I refuse to really say good bye since we will be back several times before we leave the country.

Here we go!

Check pictures of our travels on our pic website. The link is on the side. L on the beach are the best pictures. Maybe a future model?

Help please

Ladies of Pitman,
I am needing some help next Friday Jan. 30. I need to take a few small loads (the things we needed until the last minute) over to our storage unit. Would someone be able to stay with L. while I get this done? I will be having my last check out at about 1 pm and need things cleaned out before then. Thanks! I love you ladies!!! As of today I will have no internet access or computer access so please call me if you can help.
Brenda

Annie...

Annie...
You are to be celebrated today. You are one of the people who I would trust my soul with. I am so excited that you have found the person you are to be married to. You deserve a person who will honor and protect and adore you. Jared is so blessed to have found you and recognized that you are the blessing God provided for him. Annie, you enjoy these next several months and revel in the fact that you are to be MARRIED!!!! Yeah for you!
I love you Annie!

25 Random Facts

These are 25 random facts about me that you may or may not know. I was tagged by Terri Mello weeks ago, but have been way too busy traveling and packing. So here they are...
1. I want more children, but this last pregnancy was so complicated that I think I never want to be pregnant again.
2. I went to York College. A Christian college in York, NE that changed my life and made me a better Christian and a better person.
3. I swore I would never marry a person from a divorced family, then married a man who had a very complicated divorced family. This was a blessing because I really love my in-laws, they are wonderful people.
4. I knew that we would have a girl and told people so for several years before we got pregnant.
5. I love working with children who have Autism. That is my "thing" and I really miss all of the kids I worked with.
6. Making Matthew a happy and peaceful life is more of a blessing than I could have imagined. I never wanted to be a housewife--but serving him has brought great happiness.
7. I secretly (at least a secret up until now) watch one of the stupid soaps now that I stay-at-home.
8. I am a secret (though this is no longer one either) TV addict.
8. Frequently I wonder why I went to college to be a stay-at-home-mom. Though I do love knowing I will get to work with kids who have disabilities again!
9. I hate technology...using it and relying on it. But now that Matthew has been teaching me more about technology, I appreciate it even though I still hate it.
10. Being a mom is different than I expected. Though I have not yet been able to put into words why it is different than I thought it would be. Maybe this is because I spent so much time working with children who have disabilities, I keep expecting some disability to effect L. So that when the difference shows up I am not shocked.
11. Anxiety is something that has been passed down in m family and I am determined not to pass it onto my daughter.
12. Part of the anxiety I have bleeds into conviction that the worst will always happen.
13. I sometimes convince myself that if I speak aloud the worst case scenario, then the worst case will not happen.
14. I hurt myself a lot. I mean a lot. I am very clumsy and have many scars to prove it.
15. Dunkin Donuts Boston Cream donut is so delicious! I could probably eat 5 per day.
16. Never thought I would be fat (maybe donuts). Now that I am, each day I am shocked when I see myself in the mirror. (Don't tell me I am not fat...10 lbs ago my Dr. told me I was fat so I know I am now). It used to be so easy for me to be skinny. So I am going to be skinny again soon. Now that I have said this out loud, I know I will stick to it.
17. Making fun of my husband and his toys...think Star Wars...is a hobby of mine.
18. Wii is so much fun, and I love my Wii fit. I am so excited to get skinny on it!!!
19. I have 2 brothers...27 and 25....oh and one sister 5.....oh and one brother 2. This is how I respond when people ask if I have brothers or sisters. It is hard to remember to add the little ones after having just 2 brothers for 24 years. The little ones are the most amazing blessings and I would love for you to know them.
20. I have a unique life in that I am not really from anywhere. I have lived in New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, and getting ready to move to South Carolina and Japan.
21. Being married to Matthew makes for a very good life since he is a God-centered husband who leads our family.
22. When Matthew and I get into an argument, he will usually crack a joke and then I bust up. So we have lots of laughs since I can get grippy on a regular basis.
23. I don't like to travel. I like living in different places, but traveling is not fun to me.
24. When I die, I don't want any carnations at my funeral. Carnations are ugh! I want lots of yellow roses and daisies. I want every one wearing white and celebrating the life that I lived. I have loved living and am happy with the way my life has been. So celebrate and know that if you are saved, we will see each other again! At the funeral dinner, I want lots of yellow and light purple...it will be gorgeous.
25. For our 25th wedding anniversary, we are planning a BIG party. With a band, lots of flowers and beautiful dresses. It will be a fantastic time and we are excited to celebrate and wonderful marriage.

We have a winner

Two teeth are about to pop through. I found them yesterday! I am so grateful to know what has been bothering my little baby girl. The normally pleasant smiley girl who lost her mind several weeks ago. The teeth are close to the top and about to break through. So we are holding nothing back...puffs to chew on, vibrating teether, Ibuprofen, Tylenol and gum goop. It is a relief to know what has been bothering her and to see her turning back into my precious baby. SO things are going so much better!

She has also been sleeping through the night!!! From 7:30 or 8:30 until 9 am!!!! What to do with all the sleep? REJOICE!!!!

I am so excited to see my L again and to know what was wrong and to be able to help her. Thank you God for getting us through this recent rough patch. We are happy and loving life again. This mom thing is working out very well.

We are also packing up...for travel and moving.

Itinerary:
Dec. 24 -- Go to city for dinner and Mass
Dec. 25 -- In Central Jersey for Christmas
Dec. 27 - Jan. 5 -- Kansas and Missouri
Jan. 7 - Jan. 15 -- Bermuda
Jan. 17 -- Move out of house
Jan. 20 - 21 -- Travel and move to SC
Jan. 30 - Feb. 3 -- Virginia to attend M's promotion ceremony

Holy Smokes! That is lots of travel and moving. We are excited about our changes.

Yeah for our life changes!!!

Dead Set

Since becoming pregnant, I have realized that many people will do things exactly this way or that. They have researched and think they know what is the best thing to do. Parents think that they know what will and will not work and will gladly share their views with other soon-to-be or new parents. Parents will only breast feed or parents will only bottle feed. Parents know that time-out is the only form of discipline to use. Others only use spanking. Parents read a book or check on the inter net and then magically know how to parent. This is hog-wash!

I will admit I have used the Internet and books to help me along. But as L gets older, I am checking less and less on what everyone else recommends and instead doing what is best for us. There is no one like L and no one like me. And no relationship like the one we have together.

You see, I was never dead set against breast feeding, or bottle feeding. I figured when the time came, we would do what worked and was best for our family. L took to breast feeding like a fish to water. We never had any issues...always had enough milk, never got clogged and did not loose my mind from the hormones. So we breast fed because it worked for our family.

I am not dead set against time-out or spanking. I think for different kids and in different situations, each one will work just fine. I have already had to smack L's hand because she LOVES to go for cords and cables. These are her favorite things in the house to play with. I feel she has to learn not to touch the cords and this is non-negotiable. She could get zapped or worse. Time-out does not work for a child who has the attention span and memory of a goldfish (3 seconds). She touches a cord and gets an immediate and firm "NO!" with a smack sometimes. Then redirects to another toy until she spots a cord on the other side of the room. I refuse to child-proof my house because she needs to learn what is and is not ok. Kids are way too protected. The obvious killers are child-proofed --- like the stairs, cleaners and knives. Otherwise, I believe it is my job to teach what she can and cannot play with. (And yes I have told her for the millionth time and she's only 8 months old ;)

This is because she was crawling at 6 months, and yes that is young to start discipline, but she has to learn. She is on the move, so we have to work with her. From teaching experiences, parents often wait way too long to discipline and then it doesn't work. Kids are too old. I think it would be silly to suddenly start trying to discipline at 8 years old, then be surprised that she won't listen to me.

L also decided this week that she was done nursing. She just no longer was interested and would not stay on the boob. So we are done. I had hoped to nurse until 12 months, but she is done and I will not force her so that my wishes are met. This was a situation where she took the lead and I followed.

My whole point is that when parents are so stuck on what they want to happen, or what they read in a book or on the Internet that they forget to listen to the kids, then that sucks for the kid. As L's mother I will provide what she needs when she needs. I will pick up on her ques and quick checking the Dr. Sear's website for every little thing. If things don't always go the way I had pictured, oh well. Why add what I am dead set on to my list of stressers? I like the easy going life better.

I do like hearing ideas and suggestions (when I ask for them) but will not be dead set on any one way. We will be flexible and work with L and what our family needs.


So, as my facebook status was set to this week...

I am no longer a nursing mother and I did not ask your opinion.

Time to count the blessings

Blessings I have:

Matthew has been home so much more to help with the crying baby
Don't have to get up to go to work outside the home
Able to nap during the day since I work at home as a mom
Matthew has been home so much more
Have friends who know that when I say I want to throw the baby out the window say they understand
Have a dad and stepmom who have a 1 year old baby so they know how I feel
Able to use all of the baby stuff at my parents' house since they have a baby so I have to pack nothing to go to their house
Matthew is home so much more
L has been an easy baby up until this last week. So thank you God for all this easy time we've had
L still gives me a few smiles a day
Last night L slept through the night
Matthew is home so much more
Matthew is going to be promoted
We are probably going to Japan for our next tour
We get to see family at Thanksgiving and Christmas
Japan will be warmer than NJ for next winter
Thank goodness for Baby Oralgel!
Matthew has been home so much more
My computer died, does that mean I get a new computer?
Overall health is good -- no longer sick and no terminal diseasae
MIL is going to be ok. She is healing well so far.
Brother is safe in Iraq and LOVING his job
Reconnecting with not-seen-for-a-long-time family members
Matthew is home so much more
Matthew has been cleared for his ankle, healing going well


Okay, so these blessings are what I need to focus on. Even if we do have a fussy baby.

These are the great and wonderful things we have going on. I am thankful for my life!

Head against the wall

Today I actually knocked my head against the wall. You know when you see someone in the movies who is so desperate... bouncing their head against the wall. That was me. It has been a very frustrating couple of days. L continues to cry. She was up from 3 to 5 last night. She has got to be teething. So tylenol it is. A squirt of tylenol and she seems to scream less intensely. It is 3:30 pm and I am finally ready for a shower. She napped twice today for 5 minutes but has finally fallen asleep. Poor baby. She must be in pain and I feel so bad for her. She is so precious when she is asleep. That is my new favorite time with her. When she is finally asleep in my arms and she is at peace. I feel so bad, but don't know what else to do. She won't take cold or frozen chew things, so I keep offering her room temp. things to chew on and tylenol. Why would a parent not use any sort of medicine when that is the only thing that gives them some relief? After the tylenol she is able to calm enough to give me 1/2 smiles. So its got to be teething right? I see no teeth. I feel no teeth. But its got to be the teeth. Oh, this guessing game. Enough being on here. I've got to shower before the cranky baby awakens.

I really do love her and M says I do a good job with her. But these last fews days have been a struggle.

Better

Things are better. L went to sleep last night before 9 pm. She was up on Saturday night until 1 am. Today and yesterday, though, she was so much happier. She seems to be a little more back to herself. Thank goodness.