Yea, I know.  Its been a long time since I updated.  One thing after another and then I got out of the habit.  So here I am.

Jim is gone for training.  My first trial of having him totally gone with two kids.  He’s been away training a lot but not REALLY gone, just 18-20 hour days gone.  We’re on Day 5 and doing pretty good.

Elizabeth woke up vomitting last night.  She threw up a couple times and then slept for five hours.  I thought she was better this morning but, a couple hours after she woke up, she started again.  Sick as in just lying on the couch sick.  My child NEVER just sits still.  So when she does, its bad.  She’s sound asleep right now.  And to make matters worse, I had to tell her that we couldn’t go across the street to the food court playground today.  We go over there most days now.  Its close and there are usually other mamas there with husbands deployed/away.  So its adult conversation.  Some days I wish it was outside but now that its pretty warm, I’m glad it isn’t!!

Guess how her sleep is going….a week ago Friday, she slept THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!  (Of course, Ben made up for it and was up WAY more than usual.)  She hasn’t done it since but I now have HOPE.  She’s been asking to fall asleep on her own too!  We let her have a toy in her bed with the lights out and she’s usually out in about 20 minutes.  Six months ago it could easily take 2-3 hours to get her asleep.  From the moment we go upstairs until I can hear her snoring is almost always under 45 minutes now and usually under 30 minutes!

Ben is four months tomorrow.  And I think he’s teething.  Elizabeth was such a crier that I never really had any idea if she was crying b/c of teething pain or crying b/c she was a crier.  But the last few days Ben has cried and cried so much, especially as he’s trying to go to sleep.  He keeps putting his hand in his mouth as he’s crying, which is what makes me suspect teething.  I thought he was doing it in a “trying to such his hand” way but now I’m not so sure.  Whatever is making him cry, he is definitely MAD about it!!  He is so NOT a crier, its almost harder to hear him scream than it was with Elizabeth.

I’ve been doing more to get involved on base.  Unfortunately, everything is now on summer break!  We’ve had something to do most days and it has been SO nice.  Its reminded me how much better I do when we consistently have plans.  So I want to work on finding more to do this summer while I wait for things to start back up.  We have a women’s evening Bible study that just started at my church and that takes me through July, I believe.  Its a Beth Moore study and I know it’ll be great.  (I need to go work on it while the kids are asleep, actually!)

On that note, I think I’ll go work on the study while I can.

I sent out an e-mail with our new address. If you didn’t receive it, e-mail me at jtbrookover@gmail.com and I’ll send it on. We lost some e-mail addresses in the move, so I didn’t have many.

We drove by our house after we signed the lease. We have one building next to us and our garage backs up to an alley with, I think, six families. We are on the end and our side & front yard opens up to a big lot. We face a busy street but we’re set back from it a good distance.

Good news: They have loaner furniture available for us including living room furniture, washer & dryer, dining room table and bedroom furniture. That should come on the 18^th.

Bad news: Our first shipment of goods isn’t scheduled to be here until the 28^th. Which means we’re basically in the same boat as we were last summer. So we’re hitting the thrift shops this week to look for some pots & pans, etc. And we’ll need to buy some bedding linens. And a few Christmas decorations that were in that shipment.

All new patients at our hospital get an ultrasound, so we’re going today to see Ben one more time before we get to hold him in our arms. Jim is done processing for the day, so he’ll get to go this time!

I uploaded some pictures from the beach. Click here: First Beach Day

Almost 15 months after we arrived, we are ready to start our next adventure.  We are eager to see Hawaii and find out what is in store for us.

It has been a good year for us.  I was very lucky to find a wonderful mom’s group just after arriving.  I felt welcome by the end of the first meeting.  We found a good church.  And, best of all, we got to see Jim much more than we expected.

We arrive into Honolulu appx. 9pm local time (3am our time).  We have to sign in at the USO and, hopefully, someone from Jim’s unit will be there waiting to take us to the inn on base.  Jim has to report on Tuesday and we’ll then learn what the rest of the week’s schedule will be.  Hopefully we’ll get to start house-hunting before the weekend.  Our first shipment should be there 1-2 weeks after we arrive.

We can be reached at our same cell phone numbers and our temporary e-mail address is jtbrookover@gmail.com or happygrl6@yahoo.com  We hope to have internet access at the inn.  If not, the library is nearby.  We’ll try to check in on it at least once a day and I’ll also try to post updates on here.

Quick entry to say…

Thank you to everyone for their comments, prayers, etc. I really do appreciate all of them. To those who have known these feelings, a special thank you for sharing them. I would never wish these feelings on anyone but its nice to know that I’m not alone in them.

We’re moving! Guess where? A hint can be found on my blog.

Palm trees: yes
Chicago: I wish!!
Bentonville: Heaven, help me if it was…But, like Bentonville, there is no Target. **sob, sob**

Now that I’ve got the “baby bump” (two weeks earlier than with E!), I’m looking for new maternity clothes.  I was much further along come summer with E, so my shorts all have the purple panel on them and my shirts are for further along too…I don’t have the belly yet to fill them up so I end up just looking fat & frumpy.  I’m going out shopping Wednesday, I think.  I would like a couple pair of capris plus a few shirts.  I ordered a few Belly Huggers, so I’ll be able to wear some of my current shirts a bit longer with the layered look (and they’ll be great for nursing, replacing some of the tanks I used with E).  I just don’t like shopping, though.  I don’t feel like I know what looks good on me.  I’d love to have a personal shopper!   Store selection is somewhat limited too.  We have Kohl’s (cute but tiny section), Target (but their maternity section is NOT good!), Motherhood Maternity (I don’t like some of their business practices, so I try to avoid it) plus the standard department stores.  I haven’t tried any of those yet.  I’m not a fan of ordering clothes online since I can’t try them on first but I think I may have to this pregnancy.

Jim graduates IOBC (Infantry Officer’s Basic Course) Thursday.  Last one & he can officially serve as an officer.  Woohoo!  Jim’s parents are coming in tomorrow night, my dad Wednesday night & SIL Thursday.  (Only my dad is staying with us.)  Three schools down, two more (hopefully) to go!  He’s going to Airborne right after graduation and Ranger at the end of the month.  I am NOT looking forward to that one.  If he completes it his first time through, that is 63 long day.  And missing our 20-week ultrasound.   Good preparation for the next deployment, I suppose.

So another meal question….rib prices are up, so I decided to scrap that idea.  I think we’re going to do a burger bar instead.  Besides lettuce, tomato, pickle, ketchup, mustard, red onion, bacon & sauteed Vidalia onions, anything else?  And what should I do as a side?  I thought about some potato wedges and corn on the cob.  Any better ideas?  I’m not a fan of mayo-based potato salads but I’d be open to other ones, I just don’t have any recipes.   And sundae bar ideas.   We’re doing that Thursday after the graduation reception.  I’m planning on making a vanilla custard, chocolate and then something else.  Maybe a butter pecan as both of our dads like pecans.  But what to put on top?  I have nuts, chocolate syrup & caramel syrup.  What else?